AS 

5 


UC-NRLF 


NATIONAL  ACADEMIES  AND  THE 
PROGRESS  OF  RESEARCH 


BY 


GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 


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NATIONAL  ACADEMIES  AND  THE 
PROGRESS  OF  RESEARCH 


BY 
GEOKGE   ELLEEY  HALE 

Foreign  Secretary  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences 


Eeprinted  from  SCIENCE,  Vol.  XXXVflL,  No.  985,  Pages  681-698, 
November  14,  1913;  Vol.  XXXIX,  No.  997,  Pages  189-200,  February 
6,  1914;  Vol.  XL.,  No.  1043,  Pages  907-919,  December  25,  1914; 
Vol.  XLL,  No.  1044,  Pages  12-22,  January  1,  1915. 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


I.  THE  WORK  OF  EUROPEAN 
ACADEMIES 

THE  Academy  of  Plato,  who  bequeathed 
to  his  followers  the  walled  garden  and  ap- 
pointments in  the  place  named  after  the 
hero  Hekademus,  was  at  once  a  school  of 
instruction  and  a  society  for  the  develop- 
ment of  new  knowledge.  Here  he  discussed 
his  philosophy  with  associates  and  students 
while  it  was  still  in  the  making,  thus  bring- 
ing them  under  the  stimulating  influence  of 
fresh  thought,  developing  and  expanding 
from  day  to  day.  Writing  of  the  Old  Acad- 
emy, which  included  the  schools  of  Plato 
and  his  immediate  successors,  Cicero  re- 
marks : 

From  their  writings  and  systems  all  liberal 
learning,  all  history,  all  elegance  of  language,  may 
be  derived;  and  also,  so  great  is  the  variety  of  arts 
of  which  they  were  masters,  that  no  one  can  come 
properly  armed  for  any  business  of  importance 
and  credit  without  being  tolerably  versed  in  their 
writings.  ...  It  is  from  this  Academy,  as  from  a 
regular  magazine  of  all  the  arts,  that  mathema- 
1 


ticians,  poets,  musicians,  aye,  and  physicians  too, 
have  proceeded,  i 

The  Old  Academy  was  thus  the  prede- 
cessor of  our  modern  academies  of  science 
and  of  our  universities  as  well.  Its  world- 
wide influence,  while  of  course  primarily 
due  to  the  brilliant  thinkers  of  the  day,  may 
certainly  be  ascribed  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
its  instruction  was  given  in  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  the  stimulus  of  original 
thought  and  constantly  broadening  ideas. 
The  great  success  of  the  German  univer- 
sities, and  the  outflow  from  them  of  the 
spirit  of  research  into  every  phase  of  Ger- 
man life  and  thought,  is  undoubtedly  due 
in  the  largest  measure  to  the  application  of 
this  principle.  Fortunately  for  the  intel- 
lectual advancement  of  the  United  States, 
the  recognition  of  its  importance  has  al- 
ready permeated  most  of  our  advanced 
schools,  and  is  rapidly  gaining  acceptance 
in  the  minds  of  their  governing  boards  of 
trustees. 

Aristotle,  called  by  Plato  "the  mind  of 
my  school, "  came  from  a  family  of  physi- 
cians, and  thus  inherited  a  taste  for  experi- 

i  Cicero,  "De  Finibus,"  Book  5,  Yonge's  trans. 
2 


mental  knowledge.  To  him  we  owe  the 
beginnings  of  exact  science  and  the  organi- 
zation of  research  on  a  large  scale.  Thanks 
to  his  influence  with  his  pupil  Alexander 
the  Great,  he  was  able  to  command  the 
great  sum  of  eight  hundred  talents  for  the 
purchase  of  books  and  for  other  expenses 
involved  in  the  preparation  of  his  treatise 
on  zoology.  More  than  this,  a  thousand  men 
throughout  Asia  and  Greece  studied  under 
his  direction  the  life  and  habits  of  birds  and 
beasts,  fishes  and  insects.2  The  territories 
conquered  by  Alexander  were  carefully 
surveyed,  by  measuring  the  position  of 
terrestrial  objects  with  respect  to  stars.3 
Although  Aristotle  maintained  the  fixity  of 
the  earth,  and  supposed  comets  and  the 
Milky  Way  to  be  in  its  higher  atmosphere, 

2  Wheeler,  ''Alexander  the  Great/'  p.  37.  The 
strict  accuracy  of  these  assertions,  which  were 
made  by  several  classical  authors,  is  questioned  by 
Grote  and  also  by  Humboldt,  who  nevertheless 
concede  that  Aristotle  received  from  both  Philip 
and  Alexander  the  most  liberal  support  in  pro- 
curing zoological  material  from  Grecian  territories 
and  in  the  collection  of  books.  "Cosmos/'  Sa- 
bine's  trans.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  158. 

sBossut,  "Histoire  des  Mathematiques/ '  Vol. 
1,  p.  116. 

3 


his  reasoning  in  many  astronomical  prob- 
lems was  sound,  as  when  he  concluded  that 
the  earth  must  be  spherical  because  its 
shadow  on  the  eclipsed  moon  is  always 
curved.4  Thus  his  studies  of  natural  science 
foreshadowed  the  work  of  the  present-day 
investigator  and  led  to  the  most  far-reach- 
ing results. 

After  his  time  a  gradual  division  of  labor 
ultimately  separated  investigations  in  natu- 
ral science  from  the  speculations  of  the 
philosophers.  In  Sicily,  Egypt  and  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean  true  scientific 
research,  in  the  strictly  modern  sense,  devel- 
oped with  remarkable  rapidity,  while  in  the 
old  Lyceum  at  Athens  the  philosophy  of 
reasoning  and  dialectics,  caring  little  for 
physical  causes,  was  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  soul. 

A  deep-seated  belief  that  the  senses  are 
deceptive,  and  the  natural  impatience  of  the 
Greeks,  inclining  them  toward  reasoning 
and  speculation  rather  than  the  slow  and 
laborious  processes  of  observation  and  ex- 
periment, had  first  to  be  overcome.5  But  in 

*IUd.,  p.  117. 

5  Weber,  "History  of  Philosophy/'  Thilly's 
trans.,  p.  133  et  seq. 


the  third  century  B.C.  the  greatest  geometer 
of  antiquity,  Archimedes,  taught  at  Syra- 
cuse a  system  of  astronomy  closely  resem- 
bling that  of  Copernicus,  founded  the 
science  of  mechanics  in  his  treatise  "De 
-^.quiponderantibus, "  and  devised  some  of 
the  fundamental  experimental  methods  of 
modern  physics.  At  the  same  period  Aris- 
tarchus  of  Samos  made  a  first  determination 
of  the  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth 
and  held  that  "the  center  of  the  universe 
was  occupied  by  the  sun,  which  was  im- 
movable, like  other  stars,  while  the  earth 
revolved  around  it."6  This  view  was  also 
taught  by  Seleucus  the  Babylonian,  but  it 
was  rejected  by  Ptolemy,  the  most  cele- 
brated astronomer  of  his  day. 

THE  MUSEUM  OF  ALEXANDRIA 

Of  all  the  ancient  prototypes  of  the 
modern  academy,  the  great  Museum  of 
Alexandria  holds  the  first  place.  Founded 
by  Ptolemy  Soter,  whose  preference  would 
have  confined  its  work  to  the  moral  and 
political  sciences,  its  scope  soon  expanded 
under  the  influence  of  Ptolemy  Phila- 

e  See  Humboldt,  ''Cosmos,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  309,  and 
notes,  p.  cix. 

5 


delphus  and  the  pressure  of  circumstances, 
until  it  embraced  the  whole  field  of  knowl- 
edge.7 Here  almost  all  of  the  important 
results  of  Greek  science  were  obtained  in  a 
period  covering  nine  centuries.  The 
museum  established  by  Ptolemy  was  an 
extensive  palace,  housing  the  brilliant  com- 
pany of  scholars  and  investigators  gathered 
together  from  all  parts  of  Greece.  As  a 
state  institution,  endowed  with  special 
revenues,  it  was  under  the  direction  of  the 
government,  which  appointed  its  head. 
This,  in  accordance  with  the  traditions  of 
the  day,  was  a  priest,  whose  ecclesiastical 
office,  and  even  the  name  of  the  museum 
itself,  gave  a  kind  of  religious  character  to 
the  institution,8  though  it  subsequently  be- 
came purely  secular. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus  collected  strange 
animals  from  many  lands,  and  sent  Diony- 
sius  on  exploring  expeditions  to  the  most 
remote  regions.9  But  while  the  investi- 
gators of  the  museum  doubtless  profited  by 
these  collections  and  explorations  for  their 

7  Matter,  "Histoire  de  PEcole  d  'Alexandrie, " 
2d  ed.,  Vol.  II.,  Introduction,  p.  v. 
s  Op.  tit.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  87  and  96. 
p.  158. 

6 


studies  in  natural  history  and  geography, 
Matter  finds  no  evidence  that  at  this  period 
the  museum  possessed  either  a  distinct 
natural  history  collection  or  a  zoological 
park,10  though  the  study  of  medicine  was 
encouraged,  and  a  great  art  collection  was 
developed. 

The  rising  tide  of  science  soon  brought 
all  the  material  requisites  of  research,  sup- 
plementing the  great  library  of  700,000 
volumes  by  the  instruments,  laboratories 
and  collections  demanded  by  the  astron- 
omer, the  physicist  and  the  student  of 
biology.  A  botanical  garden,  a  zoological 
menagerie,  an  anatomical  laboratory  and 
an  astronomical  observatory  in  the  Square 
Porch,  provided  by  Ptolemy  Euergetes 
with  an  equinoctial  and  a  solstitial  armil- 
lary,  stone  quadrants,  astrolabes  and  other 
instruments,  illustrate  the  nature  of  the 
extensive  equipment  provided.  The  work 
of  the  Alexandrian  school  thus  continued 
to  grow,  until  it  embraced  all  of  natural 
and  physical  science,  medicine,  mathe- 
matics, astronomy  and  geography,  history, 
philosophy,  religion,  morals  and  politics. 
It  is  significant  that  an  institution  which  in 
nU,  p.  159. 

7 


many  respects  would  be  regarded  as  a 
model  to  be  striven  for  to-day,  should  have 
developed  at  so  early  a  period  in  the  history 
of  civilization.11 

To  the  Alexandrian  school  we  owe  the 
"  Geometry "  of  Euclid,  and  his  treatises 
on  " Harmony,"  " Optics "  and  "Catop- 
trics"; the  hydraulic  screw  and  some  of  the 
mathematical  and  physical  discoveries  of 
Archimedes  of  Syracuse,  who  spent  part 
of  his  time  in  Egypt;  the  mathematical, 
astronomical,  geographical  and  historical 
investigations  of  Eratosthenes,  who  first 
endeavored  to  determine  the  circumference 
of  the  earth  by  measuring  the  difference  of 
latitude  and  the  distance  between  Alexan- 
dria and  Syene,  and  wrote  on  such  subjects 
as  the  geological  submersion  of  lands,  the 
elevation  of  ancient  sea-beds,  and  the 
origin  of  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar;  the  "Conic  Sections"  of  Apol- 
lonius;  the  mathematical  and  astronomical 
researches  of  Hipparchus,  whose  discovery 
of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  was 
based  on  observations  made  five  hundred 
years  previously  by  Timochares  at  Alexan- 

11  Draper,  "  Intellectual  Development  of  Eu- 
rope," Vol.  L,  p.  188. 

8 


dria;  and  the  great  "Syntaxis"  of  Ptolemy, 
translated  as  the  "Almagest"  by  the 
Arabians,  which  stood  as  a  commanding 
authority  in  Europe  for  nearly  fifteen  hun- 
dred years.  Founded  on  the  geocentric 
hypothesis,  the  "Almagest"  is  nevertheless 
replete  with  astronomical  methods  and 
observations  of  the  widest  range  and  signifi- 
cance, and  includes  Ptolemy's  discovery  of 
the  lunar  evection,  a  rough  determination 
of  the  distance  of  the  earth  from  the  sun,  a 
masterly  discussion  of  the  motions  of  the 
planets,  and  a  catalogue  of  1,022  stars. 
These  remarkable  advances,  which  include 
only  a  fraction  of  the  enormous  scientific 
product  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  were 
supplemented  by  equally  striking  contribu- 
tions to  literature  and  art.  Philology,  criti- 
cism and  the  history  of  literature  became 
sciences,  while  the  coming  together  of  Budd- 
hists, Jews,  Greeks  and  Egyptians,  with 
the  most  diverse  beliefs,  led  to  the  develop- 
ment of  comparative  theology.  Of  the 
literary  works  of  the  Alexandrian  school, 
the  Septuagint  and  the  poems  of  Theocritus 
are  perhaps  the  most  widely  known.12 

12  Recent  works  on  Greek  science  include  those 
of  Tannery,  Duhem,  Lones  and  Heath. 
9 


The  rising  power  of  Eome,  which  finally 
made  of  Alexandria  a  mere  provincial 
town,  was  coincident  with  the  decline  of 
Greek  intellectual  life.  In  this  paper  only 
the  more  significant  epochs  in  the  develop- 
ment of  academies  can  be  mentioned,  and 
we  must  pass  over  the  work  of  the  imme- 
diate successors  of  the  Alexandrian  school 
in  Eome  and  Byzantium,  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  Arabian  science  in  Africa,  Spain 
and  Persia.  In  1453,  by  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople, where  Greek  scholars  had  pre- 
served, in  antiquated  and  pedantic  form, 
the  literary  and  philosophical  traditions  of 
the  Alexandrian  age,  Italy  was  once  more 
raised  to  its  old  position  of  "Magna 
Graecia."  Some  years  earlier  the  scholar 
and  ambassador  Pletho,  aided  by  Cosimo 
de  Medici,  had  established  a  Platonic  acad- 
emy in  Florence.  Under  this  stimulus,  and 
the  influence  of  the  Greek  refugees,  philos- 
ophy became  popular,  and  Greek  was 
widely  studied.  The  voyages  of  Columbus, 
Da  Gama  and  Magellan,  and  the  astro- 
nomical achievements  of  Tycho  Brahe, 
Copernicus,  Kepler  and  Galileo  reawak- 
ened the  appreciation  of  scientific  research 
and  its  possibilities.  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
10 


continued  the  work  of  Archimedes  and  the 
Alexandrian  school  in  optics,  mechanics 
and  other  branches  of  physics,  Vesalius 
established  human  anatomy  on  a  firm 
foundation,  and  Harvey  proved  the  theory 
of  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  under  such  conditions  acad- 
emies of  literature  and  science  should 
multiply  in  Europe. 

ITALIAN  ACADEMIES 

Among  the  earliest  Italian  academies 
were  the  academy  of  history,  philology  and 
archeology,  founded  in  Rome  by  Pomponio 
Leto  in  1457;  the  Accademia  di  S.  Luca, 
devoted  to  the  fine  arts,  established  in  1577 ; 
and  the  Accademia  della  Crusca,  founded 
in  1582,  which  has  published  several  edi- 
tions of  its  great  Italian  dictionary.13  In 
addition  to  these  organizations  seriously 
devoted  to  the  encouragement  of  literature 
and  the  arts,  a  host  of  imitations  sprang  up 
all  over  Italy  during  the  sixteenth  century. 
Perhaps  the  gaiety  of  their  proceedings  was 
considered  to  find  sufficient  warrant  in  the 

is  Carutti,  ' l  Breve  storia  dell  'Accademia  del 
Lincei,"  p.  157. 

11 


splendid  suppers  offered  to  the  academy  of 
Pomponio  by  the  wealthy  German  Goritz, 
regarding  which  Ginguene14  quotes  the 
remarks  of  an  earlier  authority: 

Ainsi,  dit  avee  un  juste  sentiment  de  regret,  le 
bon  TiraboscM,  ainsi  parmi  les  verres  et  les  jeux 
d 'esprit,  on  cultivait  joyeusement  les  lettres,  et 
les  plaisirs  memes  servaient  &  en  encourager  et  & 
en  ranimer  1 'etude. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  founded  and  directed 
the  first  scientific  and  experimental  acad- 
emy in  Italy.15  Another  early  academy  de- 
voted to  the  pursuit  of  science  was  the 
Academia  Secretorum  Naturae  of  Naples, 
which  dates  from  1560. 

Of  special  interest  to  the  modern  inves- 
tigator is  the  Aecademia  del  Cimento,  which 
possessed  a  large  collection  of  physical  in- 
struments, many  of  which  are  now  pre- 
served in  the  Galileo  Museum  at  Florence. 
The  "Saggi  di  Natural!  Esperienze"  made 
in  the  laboratories  of  this  institution  is  an 
admirably  illustrated  account  of  early 
academic  activities.  The  experiments, 

i*  Ginguene,  "Histoire  literaire  d'ltalie,"  Vol. 
7,  p.  353. 

isLibri,  "Histoire  des  sciences  math&natiques 
en  Italic, "  Vol.  3,  p.  30. 
12 


which  are  described  in  great  detail,  with 
the  aid  of  excellent  woodcuts  of  instru- 
ments, are  in  some  cases  attributed  to 
Galileo,  Torricelli  and  other  investigators, 
and  in  other  cases  are  said  to  have  been 
first  performed  in  France.  They  include  a 
wide  variety  of  subjects,  such  as  the  effects 
of  artificial  freezing  on  various  waters, 
wines,  acids  and  oils,  the  compression  of 
liquids,  various  phenomena  in  a  vacuum, 
the  electrical  properties  of  amber,  and  the 
motion  of  projectiles. 

This  important  volume  was  published  in 
1666,  ten  years  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Academy,  which  lasted  only  during 
this  period.  The  one  great  Italian  acad- 
emy of  science  which  still  survives  is  the 
Accademia  dei  Lincei,  founded  by  Federico 
Cesi  in  1603.  His  vast  plans  of  organiza- 
tion for  the  Academy,  resembling  those  of 
the  religious  and  military  orders  of  the  day, 
are  described  in  an  unpublished  work  en- 
titled the  "Lineeografo."  The  Academy 
was  to  comprise  establishments  in  the  four 
quarters  of  the  world,  where  the  members 
would  lead  a  common  life  in  the  midst  of 
libraries,  museums,  observatories,  labora- 
tories and  botanic  gardens,  provided  with 
13 


every  requisite  means  of  research,  and  in 
constant  communication  with  the  other  con- 
stituent bodies  of  the  organization.  The 
name  Lincei,  or  Lynx-eyed,  was  taken  in 
recognition  of  the  reputation  of  the  lynx 
for  extreme  penetration  of  vision,  "vedendo 
non  solo  quello  che  e  di  fuori,  ma  anche  do 
che  dentro  si  asconde."™ 

After  a  stormy  period  of  youth,  during 
which  Cesi  and  his  three  fellow  organizers 
underwent  many  vicissitudes,  the  Academy 
was  vigorously  revived  in  1609.  Two  years 
later,  to  its  lasting  renown,  it  was  joined 
by  Galileo,  whose  earliest  telescopic  dis- 
coveries had  just  been  made.  Under  this 
stimulus,  and  aided  by  the  widespread 
interest  in  Galileo's  work,  the  Academy 
now  advanced  rapidly.  While  devoting 
special  attention  to  the  mathematical  and 
physical  sciences,  it  did  not  neglect  the 
cultivation  of  literature,  counting  among 
its  members  historians,  poets,  antiquarians 
and  philologists.  Its  cosmopolitan  char- 
acter is  indicated  by  the  diverse  nationality 
of  its  membership,  which  was  drawn  from 
many  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  An  Eng- 

16  Carutti,  ' '  Breve  storia  dell  'Accademia  .  del 
Lincei,"  p.  8. 

14 


lish  member  of  this  period  was  Francis 
Bacon.17 

In  November,  1612,  Galileo  communi- 
cated his  discovery  and  observations  of  sun- 
spots,  which  were  published  by  the  Acad- 
emy under  the  title  '  'Istoria  e  Dimostra- 
zioni  intorno  alle  Macchie  Solari."  The 
manuscript  of  this  epoch-making  discovery 
is  still  preserved  by  the  Academy.  This 
was  followed  in  1622  by  his  "Saggiatore," 
published  in  great  haste,  to  avoid  interfer- 
ence from  the  Church.  Two  years  later 
he  demonstrated  at  Rome  the  use  of  the 
microscope,  so  named  by  Fabri,  a  member 
of  the  Lincei.  In  1629  Galileo  completed 
his  dialogue  on  "Due  Massimi  Sistemi  del 
Hondo, ' '  and  proposed  to  go  to  Kome  to  see 
it  through  the  press.18 

Limitations  of  space  forbid  mention  of 
the  memorable  events  of  this  time,  during 
which  the  Academy  supported  Galileo  in 
his  difficulties  with  the  Inquisition,  and 
accepted  the  resignation  of  Valerio,  who 
had  attacked  his  doctrines.  It  was  a  stir- 
ring period,  full  of  new  and  vigorous 
thought,  which  sharply  conflicted  with  the 

IT  Carutti,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 
is  lUd.,  p.  28. 

15 


traditions  of  a  vanishing  age.  Led  by  such 
men  as  Cesi,  Porta,  Galileo  and  Colonna, 
the  Lincei  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
development  of  the  scientific  advance  of 
Italy  and  in  the  cultivation  of  the  growing 
love  of  truth  which  spread  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  But  in  1830  the  Academy 
came  to  a  sudden  end,  attributed  by  Carutti 
to  the  withdrawal  of  the  patronage  of 
Cardinal  Barberini.19 

Since  that  date  it  has  seen  several  re- 
vivals, which  are  described  in  the  history 
from  which  the  present  notice  is  derived. 
Reconstituted  under  Victor  Emmanuel  II. 
in  1875  as  the  Reale  Accademia  dei  Lincei, 
it  now  flourishes  as  the  national  academy 
of  Italy.  The  class  of  physical,  mathe- 
matical and  natural  sciences  has  55  mem- 
bers, 55  national  correspondents,  and  110 
foreign  members.  The  class  of  moral,  his- 
torical and  philological  sciences  has  45 
members,  45  national  correspondents  and 
45  foreign  members.  The  president  belongs 
to  one  class,  the  vice-president  to  the  other, 
and  each  has  a  secretary  and  an  assistant 
secretary.20 

i»  Op.  tit.,  p.  97. 

20  See  revised  statutes,  Carutti,  op.  cit.,  p.  245. 
16 


The  home  of  the  Lincei  in  the  Palazzo 
Corsini  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  pur- 
poses of  an  academy.  The  collections  in- 
clude an  extensive  library,  rich  in  rare 
books  and  manuscripts,  and  a  large  gallery 
of  paintings,  most  of  which  is  open  to  the 
public.  The  annual  meeting,  held  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  palace,  is  a  very  impressive 
function,  attended  by  the  King  and  Queen 
and  other  members  of  the  royal  family, 
whose  keen  and  intelligent  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  Academy  is  a  powerful  incen- 
tive to  increased  effort  and  broader  useful- 
ness. 

THE  PARIS  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

A  brilliant  and  inspiring  picture  of  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  at  the  zenith  of 
its  development  and  fame  may  be  found  in 
the  opening  chapter  of  Merz's  "History  of 
European  Thought. "  This  Academy,  or- 
ganized through  the  efforts  of  the  far-seeing 
statesman  Colbert  at  the  period  when  New- 
ton was  engaged  in  the  composition  of  his 
"Principia,"  has  probably  exerted  a  more 
favorable  influence  on  the  progress  of  sci- 
ence than  any  other  similar  institution  in 
Europe.  Enjoying  both  the  moral  and 
17 


financial  support  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, and  permeated  by  an  enthusiasm  for 
scientific  research  which  led  its  members 
to  develop  the  most  extensive  cooperative 
projects,  it  offers  a  pattern  which  other 
academies  may  well  seek  to  imitate.  Great 
as  it  remains  to-day,  the  period  in  its  his- 
tory which  deserves  our  most  careful  con- 
sideration is  that  inspiring  epoch,  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  France 
was  everywhere  recognized  as  the  leader  of 
the  scientific  world. 

The  academicians  named  by  Colbert  held 
their  first  informal  meeting  in  the  library 
of  the  Hotel  Colbert  in  June,  1666.  In  the 
words  of  Fontenelle,  heaven  seemed  to 
favor  the  rising  company,  which  was  for- 
tunately able  to  observe  two  eclipses 
within  the  short  interval  of  fifteen  days. 
The  second  of  these  was  observed  with  the 
aid  of  an  instrument  devised  by  Huygens 
(who  was  one  of  the  members),  and  per- 
fected later  by  Auzout  and  Picart — the 
well-known  micrometer  of  the  astronomer. 

The  original  group,  composed  wholly  of 
mathematicians  and  astronomers,  was  soon 
enlarged  to  sixteen,  through  the  addition 
of  Claude  Perrault,  Mariotte  and  other 

18 


well-known  chemists,  physicians  and  anato- 
mists. Laboratories  and  collections  were 
established  in  the  Bibliotheque  du  Roi,  and 
the  astronomical  instruments  were  mounted 
in  the  garden,  awaiting  the  completion  of 
the  great  observatory  designed  by  Perrault, 
where  some  of  the  meetings  were  subse- 
quently held.  Picart  undertook  the  meas- 
urement of  an  arc  of  the  meridian  which, 
when  completed  by  Cassini,  removed  the 
last  doubt  of  Newton  as  to  the  theory  of 
gravitation.  He  was  also  sent  to  Denmark 
to  determine  the  position  of  the  ancient 
observatory  of  Tycho  Brahe.  Geographical 
maps  were  corrected  and  the  latitudes  and 
longitudes  of  a  great  number  of  points  were 
measured.  Eicher  went  to  Cayenne  to 
determine  the  length  of  the  pendulum  and 
to  make  other  observations.  In  short,  the 
greatest  activity  reigned  under  the  personal 
stimulus  of  Colbert,  whose  correspondence 
shows  how  large  an  amount  of  time  he  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  the  Academy. 
Well-known  names  were  added  to  the  list 
of  members,  including  those  of  Roemer, 
who  determined  the  velocity  of  light  from 
the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites;  Cassini, 
the  first  of  a  remarkable  lineage  of  astron- 
19 


omers;  the  anatomist  du  Verney;  and  the 
great  Leibnitz. 

Under  Louvois,  the  successor  of  Colbert, 
the  Academy  languished,  but  Bignon's  plan 
of  reorganization,  adopted  in  1699,  inaugu- 
rated a  new  period  of  progress.  The  Acad- 
emy was  provided  with  quarters  in  the 
Louvre,  where  it  remained  until  Napoleon 
assigned  to  the  Institute  the  former  College 
Mazarin,  which  it  still  occupies.  Its  unpub- 
lished memoirs  were  promptly  printed,  and 
were  so  favorably  received  by  the  public 
that  as  many  as  three  editions  were  some- 
times demanded.  At  this  period  a  class  of 
"associes  libres"  was  established,  to  which 
such  men  as  Turgot,  the  engineers  Perronet 
and  Belidor  and  Bougainville  the  explorer 
have  since  belonged. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  the  Acad- 
emy attained  a  height  only  surpassed  dur- 
ing the  great  epoch  following  the  Revolu- 
tion. Among  the  important  events  of  this 
century  were  the  mathematical  researches 
of  Clairaut  and  d'Alembert;  the  expedi- 
tions of  Clairaut  and  Maupertuis  to  Lap- 
land and  of  Godin,  Bouguer  and  La  Con- 
damine  to  Peru,  for  the  measurement  of 
arcs  of  the  meridian;  the  similar  under- 
20 


taking  of  La  Cattle  at  the  Cape,  where  he 
also  determined  the  lunar  parallax  in  co- 
operation with  astronomers  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  and  measured  the  positions  of 
ten  thousand  stars ;  and  the  observations  of 
the  transits  of  Venus  in  1761  and  1769  by 
Pingre  at  Eodrigues'  Island,  LeGentil  in 
India,  and  Chappe  in  Siberia  and  Cali- 
fornia, The  Cassinis  continued  their  exten- 
sive astronomical  and  geodetic  investiga- 
tions in  France,  where  the  activity  of 
astronomical  research  is  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  when  Bernoulli!  came  to  Paris  in 
1760  he  found,  in  addition  to  the  original 
observatory,  eight  or  ten  other  observatories 
engaged  in  investigation  under  the  direc- 
tion of  academicians.  Lalande,  known  as 
a  severe  critic,  wrote  in  1766: 

The  collection  of  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  is  the  richest  storehouse  of  astronomical 
knowledge  that  we  possess. 

But  the  work  of  the  Academy  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  astronomy  and  its  sister 
sciences.  Through  the  investigations  of  its 
chemists,  the  way  was  prepared  for  the 
creation  of  modern  chemistry  by  Lavoisier. 
Reaumur,  Buffon  and  their  contemporaries 
were  making  extensive  contributions  to 
21 


natural  history,  while  Haiiy  was  laying  the 
foundations  of  mineralogy.  At  the  same 
time  Geoffroy  and  the  three  Jussieus  shared 
with  Linnaeus  the  honor  of  creating  the 
science  of  botany. 

Under  such  conditions  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  nation  should  turn  to  the  Acad- 
emy for  assistance  and  guidance  in  many 
of  its  enterprises.  Ministers,  parliaments, 
administrators  and  state  assemblies  often 
sought  its  aid  and  accepted  its  decisions. 
So  commanding  was  its  position  that  when 
all  the  academies  were  suppressed  under  the 
Eevolution,  it  was  stipulated  that  the  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  should  provisionally  con- 
tinue its  functions  and  receive  its  annual 
revenues  from  the  state. 

As  there  are  still  those  who  see  in  a 
national  academy  a  menace  to  true  democ- 
racy, and  who  criticize  our  own  National 
Academy  on  this  score,  the  attitude  of  the 
revolutionists  toward  the  Paris  Academy  is 
not  without  interest.  In  the  report  on 
public  instruction  made  by  Talleyrand  to 
the  National  Assembly  in  1791,  on  behalf 
of  the  committee,  it  was  proposed  to  estab- 
lish a  National  Institute  to  continue  and 
extend  the  functions  of  the  various  exist- 

22 


ing  academies.21  In  a  later  report  on  behalf 
of  the  Committee  on  Public  Instruction, 
Condorcet  showed  that  the  only  satisfactory 
method  of  determining  the  membership  of 
such  an  academy  is  to  leave  the  elections  to 
the  members  themselves.22  Article  298  of 
the  Constitution,  adopted  August  22,  1795, 
declares : 

II  y  a  pour  toute  la  Bepublique  un  Institut  na- 
tional charge  de  recueillir  les  decouvertes,  de  per- 
fectionner  les  arts  et  les  sciences.23 

This  differed  from  the  former  group  of 
academies  mainly  in  the  unity  of  the  aca- 
demic body,  which  covered  the  whole  range 
of  knowledge  (though  the  Academic  Fran- 
Qaise  was  not  represented),  and  the  equality 
in  number  and  privilege  of  the  members 
resident  in  Paris  and  the  non-resident 
members  of  the  provinces.24  Far  from 
losing  its  prestige  through  the  effects  of  the 
Eevolution,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  rose 
to  its  greatest  success  in  the  years  follow- 

21  Hippeau,  ' '  L  'instruction  publique  en  France 
pendant  la  revolution,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  102. 
**lUd.,  p.  327. 

23  Simon,  ' '  Une  Academie  sous  le  Directoire, ' ' 
p.  39. 

24  Simon,  op.  cit.,  pp.  44,  46,  50. 

23 


ing  the  Terror,  and  formed,  with  its  sister 
academies,  the  chief  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  modern  democracy  and  the  old 
regime.25 

The  National  Institute,  as  thus  consti- 
tuted, lasted  until  1803,  when  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  again  reorganized  it.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  first  class  (Academy  of  Sci- 
ences) were  grouped  in  two  divisions,  con- 
taining eleven  sections  in  all.  The  two 
secretaries,  no  longer  connected  with  any 
section,  were  made  permanent.  This  or- 
ganization, with  no  essential  change,  still 
remains  in  force.  The  law  of  1803  sup- 
pressed the  national  associates,  replacing 
them  in  the  case  of  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences by  100  correspondents  (national  and 
foreign),  increased  to  116  in  1899. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  Napo- 
leon took  an  active  part  in  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  member 
in  1797.  During  the  expedition  to  Egypt 
he  invariably  signed  himself  "Le  membre 
de  Tlnstitut,  general  en  chef."26  His 
appreciation  of  the  importance  of  scientific 

25Maury,  "L'ancienne  Academic  des  Sciences," 
p.  1. 

26  Simon,  op.  tit.,  p.  40. 

24 


research  is  amply  illustrated  by  the  dis- 
tinguished company  of  investigators  which 
he  took  with  him  on  this  expedition,  where 
he  organized  the  Institute  of  Egypt  in 
Cairo,  and  proposed  to  establish  an  astro- 
nomical observatory.27  The  extensive  and 
superbly  illustrated  report  of  his  investi- 
gators on  the  antiquities  of  Egypt  was  the 
first  great  step  in  Egyptian  archeology, 
leading  to  the  successful  labors  of  Champol- 
lion,  Mariette  and  Maspero,  and  the  domi- 
nance of  the  French  school  in  Egypt  even 
under  British  control. 

In  the  great  days  of  the  First  Empire 
began  the  brilliant  period  in  the  history  of 
the  Academy  which  Merz  so  justly  empha- 
sizes. With  such  members  as  Lagrange, 
Laplace,  Legendre  and  Cauehy  in  mathe- 
matics; Messier,  Arago,  Lalande  and  Del- 
ambre  in  astronomy;  Biot,  Ampere, 
Fourier,  Fresnel,  Becquerel  and  Regnault 
in  physics ;  Berthollet,  Gay-Lussac,  Dulong, 
Dumas  and  Chevreul  in  chemistry ;  Cuvier, 
de  Jussieu,  Lamarck  and  Geoffroy  Saint- 
Hilaire  in  biology,  and  with  others  equally 
celebrated  in  other  fields,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  Academy  commanded  the 

27"M&noires  sur  PEgypte,"  Paris,  An  VIII. 
25 


respect  and  the  admiration  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Some  of  the  elements  which  have  entered 
into  the  success  of  the  Paris  Academy  are 
not  difficult  to  recognize:  the  sympathy 
and  support  of  such  statesmen  as  Colbert 
and  Napoleon,  who  appreciated  the  funda- 
mental importance  of  science  to  the  nation, 
as  Alexander  the  Great  and  the  Ptolemies 
had  done  before  them;  the  cooperative 
spirit  which  led  the  members  to  work  to- 
gether for  a  common  cause;  the  perfection 
in  the  hands  of  the  academicians  of  the 
powerful  mathematical  methods  which  con- 
tributed so  largely  to  the  application  and 
widespread  usefulness  of  Newton's  dis- 
coveries; and  the  popularization  of  science 
and  the  diffusion  of  the  scientific  spirit 
through  the  brilliant  writings  of  Cuvier, 
Laplace,  Buffon,  Fontenelle  and  many 
others.  Far  from  disdaining  the  transla- 
tion of  technical  papers  into  attractive 
literature,  these  great  leaders  set  an  exam- 
ple which  was  followed  hardly  less  effec- 
tively, though  in  a  different  manner,  by 
Davy  and  Faraday  at  the  Royal  Institu- 
tion. Cuvier,  above  all  others,  represented 
the  academic  system  at  its  best.  In  his 
26 


eloquent  Eloges  on  the  most  eminent  scien- 
tific men  of  the  day,  he  paints  a  picture  of 
scientific  investigation  and  progress  with 
the  hand  of  a  practised  artist.  The  wide 
field  of  science,  and  the  rich  results  flowing 
from  the  labors  of  investigators  skilled  in 
many  departments  of  knowledge,  has  never 
been  more  admirably  depicted  than  in  the 
discourses  of  this  distinguished  perpetual 
secretary.28 

GERMAN  ACADEMIES 

In  Germany,  the  division  of  the  empire 
into  many  kingdoms,  preventing  the  cen- 
tralization which  has  been  so  important  a 
factor  in  France  and  England,  and  the  pre- 
vailing influence  of  the  universities  as  re- 
search laboratories,  where  every  teacher  is 
not  only  a  scholar  but  a  productive  inves- 
tigator, have  stood  in  the  way  of  the  devel- 
opment of  a  single  dominant  national  insti- 

28  For  the  data  used  in  this  account  of  the 
Paris  Academy  I  am  largely  indebted  to  the 
work  of  Maury,  Simon,  Merz  and  Hippeau,  al- 
ready cited,  and  especially  to  the  article  by  Dar- 
boux  in  "L'Institut  de  France,"  Vol.  2  (Paris, 
1907).  See  also  the  useful  series  of  articles  by 
Dr.  E.  F.  Williams  on  the  Paris,  Berlin  and 
Vienna  Academies  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly. 
27 


tution  like  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences. 
During  the  eighteenth  century  the  great 
men  of  science,  including  Leibnitz,  Euler, 
Haller,  Tobias  Mayer,  Lambert,  Olbers  and 
Alexander  von  Humboldt,  were  widely 
scattered,  and  in  most  cases  had  little  to  do 
with  the  universities,  although  these  were 
already  distinguished  for  classical  scholar- 
ship. But  by  the  publication  of  his  "Dis- 
quisitiones  Arithmeticae, ' '  and  the  inven- 
tion of  his  improved  method  of  calculating 
planetary  orbits,  Gauss,  of  the  University 
of  Gottingen,  placed  himself  on  a  level 
with  the  great  French  mathematicians  and 
inaugurated  a  new  era  in  German  science. 
By  the  use  of  this  method,  von  Zach  and 
Olbers  were  enabled  to  recover  the  first  of 
the  minor  planets,  Ceres,  which  had  been 
lost  on  its  approach  to  the  sun.  Gauss  also 
introduced  exact  science  into  the  university 
curriculum,  but  it  was  through  the  work  of 
Jacobi  that  the  great  school  of  German 
mathematicians  was  set  on  foot  a  quarter 
of  a  century  later.  The  contemporary 
establishment  of  chemical  laboratories  by 
the  universities,  and  the  widespread  influ- 
ence of  Liebig,  Mitscherlich  and  Wohler  in 
chemistry,  and  of  Schleiden  and  Schwann 
28 


in  botany  and  zoology,  determined  for  all 
time  the  place  of  the  German  university  in 
science.  Schleiden's  cell  theory  of  plant 
structure  and  growth  was  the  source  of  a 
long  series  of  discoveries,  which  established 
the  supremacy  of  Germany  in  physiology.29 

In  spite  of  the  unfavorable  conditions 
already  mentioned,  four  great  academies 
have  nevertheless  arisen  in  Germany,  those 
of  Berlin,  Munich,  Leipzig  and  Gottingen. 
Among  these,  partly  because  of  the  leader- 
ship of  Prussia  in  the  German  empire  and 
partly  from  other  causes,  the  Berlin  Acad- 
emy stands  foremost.  Founded  in  1700  as 
the  Societas  Regia  Scientiarum,  through 
the  influence  of  Leibnitz  and  in  accordance 
with  his  plans,  it  has  contributed  in  the 
highest  degree  to  the  advancement  of  Ger- 
man scholarship.  Its  present  designation 
as  "Akademie  der  Wissenschaften"  indi- 
cates the  broad  scope  of  its  activities.  The 
fifty  regular  members  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  each  of  which  consists  of  two  sec- 
tions, presided  over  by  a  permanent  secre- 
tary. The  first  class  comprises  the  sections 
of  physics  and  mathematics,  the  second 

29  See  Merz  's  ' '  History  of  European  Thought, ' ' 
Vol.  1,  Chap.  2. 

29 


those  of  philosophy  and  history.  The  secre- 
taries preside  in  turn  at  the  meetings  of  the 
separate  classes,  and  at  the  general  meet- 
ings, which  are  held  monthly.  Each  mem- 
ber receives  an  annual  stipend  of  900 
marks,  while  the  secretaries  are  paid  larger 
salaries.  There  are  also  two  positions 
carrying  salaries  of  12,000  marks  each, 
filled  by  the  astronomer  and  the  chemist  of 
the  Academy,  and  a  dozen  similar  pensions 
which  may  be  distributed  at  discretion. 

In  the  early  days  of  its  history,  the 
Berlin  Academy  devoted  most  of  its 
resources  to  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  research  laboratories  and  mu- 
seums. Its  headquarters  were  originally 
in  the  Berlin  Observatory,  which  was  con- 
ducted under  the  direction  of  the  Academy, 
and  it  also  acquired  anatomical  and  zoolog- 
ical collections,  a  mineralogical  museum,  and 
a  botanical  garden.  Furthermore,  the  chem- 
ist of  the  Academy  conducted  his  researches 
in  a  chemical  laboratory  provided  for  the 
purpose.30  In  1809,  when  the  University  of 
Berlin  was  established  to  compensate  for 
the  loss  of  Halle  by  the  treaty  of  Tilsit, 

so  See   Harnack  's   great   ' '  Geschichte   der   Ber- 
liner Akademie  der  Wissenschaf ten. ' ; 
30 


these  functions  of  the  Academy  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  University  and  have  since  re- 
mained under  its  direction.  In  an  inter- 
esting and  important  manuscript  by  "Wil- 
helm  von  Humboldt,  entitled  "Ueber  die 
innere  und  aussere  Organization  der  wissen- 
schaftlichen  hoheren  Anstalten  in  Berlin/' 
his  ideas  on  the  relationship  between  the 
Academy  and  the  newly  organized  Univer- 
sity are  fully  set  forth.  Schleiermacher  had 
defined  the  university  as  a  group  of  stu- 
dents, the  academy  as  a  group  of  investi- 
gators: the  former  concerned  with  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  the  stimulation 
of  scientific  research,  the  latter  with  the 
development  of  scientific  problems  them- 
selves. Humboldt  believed  the  main  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  bodies  to  lie  in 
their  form  and  their  relationships  rather 
than  in  their  work.  The  university  always 
remains  in  close  relationship  with  practical 
life  and  the  necessities  of  the  state,  since  it 
is  engaged  in  the  practical  task  of  educating 
the  youth  of  the  nation,  while  the  academy 
is  concerned  solely  with  knowledge. 

When   only  the   function   of  teaching  and   dis- 
seminating knowledge   is  assigned  to  the  univer- 
31 


sity  and  its  promotion  to  the  academy,  injustice 
is  manifestly   done   the  former.31 

Whereas  the  university  teachers  are 
under  common  bonds  only  in  the  matter  of 
discipline,  and  are  quite  independent  of 
one  another  in  other  respects,  the  academy 
is  a  society  each  member  of  which  must 
submit  his  work  to  the  judgment  of  all. 
Hence,  he  insists,  the  idea  of  an  academy 
as  the  highest  and  ultimate  freehold  of 
knowledge,  and  as  a  corporation  which  is 
more  independent  than  any  other  of  the 
state,  must  be  maintained. 

In  Humboldt's  view,  a  close  interchange 
of  activities  between  academy  and  univer- 
sity should  be  provided  for.  Each  aca- 
demican  must  have  the  right  to  lecture  at 
the  university  without  going  through  the 
ordinary  preliminaries,  and  without  in- 
volving any  direct  connection  with  it. 
Many  scholars  should  be  both  university 
professors  and  academicians,  but  both  in- 
stitutions should  have  other  members  who 
belong  to  it  alone.  The  academy  must  be 
free  to  choose  its  own  members,  subject 
only  to  the  approval  of  the  government, 

siPaulsen,  "The  German  Universities/'  trans, 
by  Thilly  and  Elwang,  p.  53. 
32 


while  professors  in  the  university  should 
be  appointed  exclusively  by  the  state.32 

In  spite  of  the  transfer  of  some  of  its 
principal  departments  to  the  University  of 
Berlin,  the  Berlin  Academy  has  by  no 
means  relinquished  its  important  object  of 
carrying  on  large  research  projects.  As  al- 
ready stated,  it  still  has  an  endowed  pro- 
fessorship of  chemistry,  recently  held  by 
van  ?t  Hoff,  and  now  by  Fischer,  and  a  pro- 
fessorship of  astronomy,  held  by  Auwers. 
Both  of  these  investigators  pursue  their  re- 
searches under  the  auspices  of  the  Acad- 
emy. The  great  work  upon  which  Professor 
Auwers  is  engaged  is  characteristic  of 
many  of  the  larger  undertakings  of  the 
German  academies,  to  which  they  devote 
nearly  half  of  their  available  funds.  This 
is  the  "Geschichte  des  Fixsternhimmels, ' ' 
an  immense  catalogue  of  star  positions  based 
upon  the  observations  of  many  astrono- 
mers. Similar  undertakings  by  the  Berlin 
Academy  in  other  fields  are  the  "Corpus 
inscriptorum  grascarum"  and  the  "Corpus 
inscriptorum  latinarum. ' '  The  prepara- 
tion of  a  great  edition  of  Aristotle's  works, 

32Lenz,  " GescMchte  der  Universitat  Berlin/' 
Bd.  I.,  pp.  186-188. 

33 


begun  by  the  Berlin  Academy  in  1821  and 
finished  in  1909,  is  cited  by  Diels  as  a  most 
striking  illustration  of  the  advantage  of 
academic  continuity,  with  which  no  individ- 
ual can  hope  to  compete.33  For  such  an 
undertaking,  which  we  have  come  to  regard 
as  characteristically  German,  an  organ- 
ized body  like  an  academy  of  sciences  pos- 
sesses, not  merely  the  advantage  of  con- 
tinuity, but  that  which  results  from  the 
combined  experience  and  the  wide  range 
of  vision  brought  to  bear  through  the  co- 
operation of  many  eminent  authorities.  An 
academy  may  also  command  far  more  ex- 
tensive material  than  would  fall  within 
the  reach  of  the  individual  worker.  This 
phase  of  academic  activity,  practised 
in  different  forms  in  the  Museum  of  Alex- 
andria and,  in  the  preparation  of  national 
dictionaries,  by  the  Academic  Francaise 
and  the  Accademia  della  Crusca,  is  also  il- 
lustrated in  England  by  the  Royal  Society's 
"Catalogue  of  Scientific  Papers."  Our 
own  National  Academy  has  yet  to  take  any 
steps  in  this  direction. 

33  Diels,  ' '  Die  organisation  der  Wissenschaf  t, ' ' 
in  "Die  Allegemeinen  Grundlagen  der  Kultur  der 
Gegenwart,"  2d  ed.,  p.  667. 
34 


The  importance  attached  to  this  form 
of  academic  work  in  Berlin  is  clearly 
illustrated  in  the  plans  of  the  new  acad- 
emy building,  for  a  set  of  which  I  am 
indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Professor  Diels. 
This  building,  which  is  being  constructed 
in  connection  with  the  new  Eoyal  Library, 
is  probably  more  perfectly  adapted  for  aca- 
demic purposes  than  any  other  building 
now  in  usej^  as  it  was  especially  designed 
for  the  work  to  be  carried  on  in  it.84 
The  plans  show  that  one  room  each  is 
to  be  devoted  to  the  Corpus  medicorum 
Grcecorum,  the  Acta  Borussia,  and  the 
Plant  Kingdom,  three  rooms  to  the  Corpus 
inscriptorum  Latinarum,  four  to  the  Orien- 
tal Commission,  four  to  the  Egyptian  Dic- 
tionary, eleven  to  the  Inscriptiones  Grcecce, 
eleven  to  the  German  Commission,  two  to 
the  edition  of  Leibnitz's  collected  works, 
seven  to  the  History  of  the  Fixed  Stars. 
In  addition  to  all  of  these  rooms  for  spe- 
cial research,  there  are  the  great  "Fest 
Saal,"  separate  meeting  rooms  for  the  two 
classes  of  the  Academy,  a  general  meeting 

34  Most  of  the  European  academies  are  housed 
in  palaces  or  similar  buildings  formerly  used  for 
other  purposes. 

35 


room  for  both  classes  together,  a  large  ante- 
room, a  demonstration  room,  seven  editorial 
rooms,  four  secretaries'  offices,  offices  for 
the  registrar,  the  recorder  and  the  chan- 
cellor, a  reading-room  and  large  library 
and  stack  room,  a  correspondence  room,  an 
instrument  room,  a  photographic  labora- 
tory, and  various  other  offices,  kitchens, 
servants'  rooms,  etc. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  Merz,  after 
devoting  an  eloquent  chapter  to  the  evolu- 
tion of  science  in  France  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  the  Paris  Academy,  barely  mentions 
the  German  academies  when  discussing  the 
progress  of  science  in  that  country.  The 
reason,  as  we  have  already  seen,  lies  in  the 
predominating  influence  of  the  universities 
in  the  development  of  German  scientific 
life  and  thought.  With  every  teacher  an 
investigator,  every  university  a  laboratory 
of  research,  and  with  the  powerful  aid  of 
the  state  encouraging  in  every  possible  way 
the  prosecution  of  investigation  no  less 
than  the  instruction  of  students,  it  is  easy 
to  see  how  the  universities  obtained  their 
ascendancy  in  the  field  of  science,  or  rather 
in  the  broad  field  of  Wissenschaft,  for  in 

36 


Germany  the  same  spirit  of  research  has 
permeated  every  department  of  knowledge. 
The  wide  distribution  of  the  universities 
and  their  considerable  number,  together 
with  the  free  interchange  of  professors  and 
students,  have  worked  against  centraliza- 
tion, and  have  served  to  create  a  cosmopoli- 
tan spirit  in  striking  contrast  with  that 
which  obtains  in  France.  One  can  hardly 
fail  to  believe  that  no  single  influence  could 
be  more  effective  than  the  universities  for 
the  development  of  the  latent  capacity  of  a 
nation  for  scientific  research.  But  while 
the  German  academies  have  doubtless  suf- 
fered by  contrast  with  the  universities,  a 
survey  of  the  intellectual  progress  of  Ger- 
many should  by  no  means  overlook  the  in- 
valuable services  the  academies  have  rend- 
ered. 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  these  serv- 
ices might  have  been  even  greater  if  a  larger 
number  of  the  scientific  men  of  the  na- 
tion could  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
work  of  the  academies.  As  at  present  con- 
stituted, the  membership  of  these  bodies  is 
extremely  limited,  and  each  member  must 
reside  within  a  very  short  distance  of  the 
37 


seat  of  the  academy,  so  that  he  may  be  able 
to  attend  the  meetings  regularly.  These 
limitations,  though  not  without  compensa- 
ting advantages,  are  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  wider  membership  and  freer  inter- 
change which  seem  to  have  been  essential 
elements  in  the  extraordinary  development 
of  the  university  system. 

THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY 

When  we  pass  to  England,  and  examine 
the  history  of  intellectual  progress,  we 
find  a  fundamentally  different  condition 
of  affairs.  This  reflects  the  natural  char- 
acteristics of  the  English  people,  just  as  the 
university  system  of  Germany  and  the  aca- 
demic activities  of  France  illustrate  the 
essential  qualities  of  these  nations.  Merz's 
picture  of  the  growth  of  scientific  research 
in  England  is  in  some  respects  a  somber 
one.  In  his  view  the  Royal  Society  appears 
to  have  played  no  part  in  advancing  the 
intellectual  life  of  the  nation  and  the  Royal 
Institution,  as  well  as  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, fare  little  better  at  his  hands. 

Now  no  one  will  attempt  to  deny  that 
the  characteristic  quality  of  British  science 
has  always  rested  in  the  individual,  and 

38 


that  organized  efforts  there  have  played  a 
less  conspicuous  part  than  in  France  or  in 
Germany.  During  a  large  part  of  their 
history,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  done 
little  for  research,  though  the  past  half 
century  has  seen  a  remarkable  change 
in  this  respect,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
the  Cavendish  laboratory,  whose  succession 
of  brilliant  leaders  can  hardly  be  matched 
in  the  history  of  any  other  university  lab- 
oratory. Men  whose  names  are  famous  in 
science  have  sprung  up  in  the  most  unex- 
pected places,  without  ancestry,  training 
or  encouragement  to  account  for  the  domi- 
nant influence  they  have  exerted  on  the 
scientific  thought  of  the  world.  A  notable 
illustration  of  this  kind  is  afforded  by 
Faraday,  whose  obscure  origin,  extreme 
poverty,  and  lack  of  the  assistance  of 
schools,  were  most  fortunately  offset  by  his 
transcendent  genius  and  by  the  influence 
of  Davy,  whose  lectures  at  the  Koyal  Insti- 
tution soon  transformed  the  bookbinder's 
apprentice  into  Davy's  able  successor. 
Darwin,  though  of  distinguished  ancestry, 
was  another  English  "amateur"  whose 
work  was  done  apart  from  the  universities. 

39 


A  host  of  others  might  be  mentioned,  whose 
extraordinarily  original  contributions  to 
scientific  thought  have  found  few  equals  in 
other  lands.  For  the  most  part,  they  have 
worked  alone  and  sometimes  unaided,  and 
their  great  results  have  been  achieved  in 
spite  of  conditions  which  may  appear  un- 
favorable and  discouraging.  But  in  my 
opinion  the  Royal  Society  and  the  Royal 
Institution,  not  to  speak  of  other  important 
agencies,  such  as  the  societies  devoted  to 
special  branches  of  science,  have  exercised 
in  England  a  profoundly  favorable  influ- 
ence which  can  not  be  ignored. 

In  failing  to  take  note  of  this  in  his 
classic  work,  Merz  seems  to  exhibit  some 
traces  of  a  pessimistic  quality  which  is 
sometimes  encountered  in  English  life. 
It  is  mainly  to  short-sightedness  of  the 
government  and  to  individual  conserv- 
atism that  I  should  be  inclined  to  charge 
that  lack  of  support  of  scientific  men 
of  which  Merz  so  feelingly  complains, 
rather  than  to  the  Royal  Society  and 
other  organized  bodies  for  the  promo- 
tion of  science.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  is  easy  to  show  that  these  institutions 
40 


have  exerted  a  powerful  stimulus,  without 
which  the  progress  of  science  in  England 
undoubtedly  would  have  been  delayed. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Royal  Society  has 
extended  the  distinction  and  privileges  of 
its  fellowship  to  a  much  larger  number  of 
investigators  than  have  been  similarly  hon- 
ored by  the  continental  academies.35  Every 
investigator  in  science  will  understand  and 
appreciate  the  benefit  which  such  recogni- 
tion entails.  Most  of  all  the  obscure  indi- 
vidual worker,  unnoticed  and  unsupported 
by  the  universities,  but  wholly  devoted  to 
the  pursuit  of  science,  must  benefit  by 
such  moral  support.  On  the  continent  I 
have  known  investigators  of  this  type,  not 
connected  with  a  university,  and  receiving 
no  aid  or  encouragement  from  neighboring 
university  men,  who  could  not  be  recog- 
nized by  election  to  the  academies  because 
of  their  limited  membership  or  their  fixed 
traditions.  In  England  many  such  men 
have  been  received  into  the  Royal  Society, 
which  has  been  glad  to  publish  their 
papers  as  Fellows  and  to  aid  them  in  other 
ways. 

35  Fifteen  new  members  are  elected  annually, 
making  a  total  membership  of  477  (Jan.  1,  1913). 
41 


A  notable  illustration  is  afforded  by  the 
case  of  Newton,  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Eoyal  Society  on  January  11,  1671,  and 
subsequently  its  president  for  the  long 
period  of  twenty-four  years.  A  month 
following  his  election,  Newton  communi- 
cated to  the  Society  his  discovery  of  the 
composite  nature  of  white  light,  which, 
when  published  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions, was  the  first  of  his  productions  to 
appear  in  print.  In  expressing  his  thanks 
to  the  Society,  Newton  remarked:36 

It  was  an  esteem  of  the  Royal  Society  for  most 
candid  and  able  judges  in  philosophical  matters, 
that  encouraged  me  to  present  them  with  that  dis- 
course of  light  and  colors,,  which  since  they  have 
so  favorably  accepted  of,  I  do  earnestly  desire  you 
to  return  them  my  most  cordial  thanks.  I  before 
thought  it  a  great  favor  to  be  made  a  member  of 
that  honorable  body,  but  I  am  now  more  sensible 
of  the  advantage:  for  believe  me,  Sir,  I  not  only 
esteem  it  a  duty  to  concur  with  them  in  the  promo- 
tion of  real  knowledge,  but  a  great  privilege, 
that,  instead  of  exposing  discourses  to  a  preju- 
diced and  censorious  multitude  (by  which  means 

36  Weld,  "History  of  the  Eoyal  Society, "  Vol. 
I.,  p.  237.  Brewster's  "Life  of  Newton"  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  Newton 's  relations  with 
the  Eoyal  Society  and  his  plan  for  its  improve- 
ment (Vol.  I.,  p.  102). 

42 


many  truths  have  been  baffled  and  lost),  I  may, 
with  freedom,  apply  myself  to  so  judicious  and 
impartial  an  assembly. 

Leuwenhoeck,  "the  father  of  microscop- 
ical discoveries,  "who  communicated  no  less 
than  375  papers  and  letters  to  the  Society 
during  a  period  of  fifty  years,  bequeathed 
a  collection  of  microscopes  "as  a  mark  of 
my  gratitude,  and  acknowledgment  of  the 
great  honor  which  I  have  received  from  the 
Eoyal  Society."37 

When  the  Royal  Observatory  was  estab- 
lished at  Greenwich,  the  government  failed 
for  a  period  of  nearly  fifteen  years  to  fur- 
nish it  with  a  single  instrument.  In  this 
extremity  Flamsteed  appealed  to  the  Royal 
Society,  with  the  following  result  recorded 
in  the  minutes : 

It  was  ordered  that  the  astronomical  instru- 
ments belonging  to  the  Society  be  lent  to  the 
Observatory  at  Greenwich,  and  that  Mr.  Hooke's 
new  quadrant  be  forthwith  finished  at  the  charges 
of  the  Society.38 

Examples  of  this  nature  might  be 
multiplied  indefinitely,  but  a  single  case 
will  suffice,  since  no  more  striking  instance 

ST  Weld,  ibid.,  p.  245. 
38  Weld,  ibid.,  p.  255. 
43 


of  the  splendid  results  directly  due  to  the 
encouragement  and  aid  of  the  Eoyal  So- 
ciety could  be  asked  than  that  illustrated 
in  the  life  and  work  of  Sir  William  Hug- 
gins,  one  of  the  founders  of  astrophysics, 
and  a  typical  example  of  the  English 
"amateur"  investigator.39  Sir  William,  to 
whose  addresses  as  president  of  the  Royal 
Society  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
later,  was  not  a  university  man.  With  his 
accomplished  wife  as  his  only  assistant, 
he  lived  and  did  all  his  work  at  Upper 
Tulse  Hill,  well  removed  from  the  bustle  of 
Piccadilly  on  the  Surrey  side  of  the 
Thames.  It  is  more  than  probable  that 
without  the  stimulus  and  aid  of  the  Royal 
Society  much  of  his  great  work  could  not 
have  been  done.  For  it  was  on  returning 
home  from  a  Royal  Society  meeting  in  com- 
pany with  his  friend  Miller  that  he  first 
conceived  the  idea  of  observing  the  spectra 
of  stars,  and  it  was  with  telescopes  and 
other  instruments  loaned  to  him  by  the  So- 
ciety that  his  classic  observations  were 

39  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  term 
"amateur"  is  used  here  to  denote  one  who  works 
in  science  for  the  pure  love  of  the  subject,  and 
not  in  the  sense  of  dilettante. 
44 


made.  In  spite  of  fogs  and  clouds  of  Lon- 
don smoke,  he  continued  his  work  up  to  the 
very  end  of  his  long  life,  dividing  his  al- 
legiance to  science  only  between  his  astro- 
physical  investigations  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Royal  Society,  of  which  he  was 
for  forty  years  a  leading  Fellow. 

Thus,  in  spite  of  that  early  poverty  which 
prevented  the  Royal  Society  from  publish- 
ing the  "Principia"  of  Newton,  it  has  lent 
its  powerful  aid  and  support  to  many  a 
British  investigator,  who  'without  it  would 
have  been  absolutely  isolated.  Its  large 
collection  of  instruments,  the  accumula- 
tion of  more  than  two  centuries,  is  freely 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  those  who  need 
them.  Its  Philosophical  Transactions  and 
Proceedings  have  furnished  the  most  de- 
sirable means  of  publication  for  an  enor- 
mous mass  of  scientific  literature.  Its 
meetings  bring  together  every  Thursday  at 
Burlington  House  the  leading  scientific 
men  of  the  kingdom,  and  furnish  an  oppor- 
tunity for  stimulating  interchanges  of  view 
which  have  played  a  great  part  in  scien- 
tific progress.  Its  various  gold  medals,  im- 
partially bestowed  at  home  and  abroad,  in 

45 


recognition  of  advances  in  science,  have 
been  effectively  supplemented  by  financial 
assistance  to  investigators  from  the  Govern- 
ment Grant  Fund  of  £4,000  per  annum, 
which  is  administered  by  the  Society.  To 
its  influence  is  largely  due  the  high  stand- 
ard of  efficiency  maintained  by  the  govern- 
ment in  its  appointment  of  astronomers 
royal  and  other  directors  of  the  scientific 
research  of  the  nation.  When  the  govern- 
ment decided  to  establish  a  National  Phys- 
ical Laboratory  it  turned  at  once  to  the 
Royal  Society,  to  which  it  delegated  the 
planning  and  control  of  this  great  institu- 
tion. Its  Catalogue  of  Scientific  Papers, 
continued  as  the  International  Catalogue 
of  Scientific  Literature,  has  contributed 
in  a  most  important  way  to  the  accessibil- 
ity and  usefulness  of  the  literature  of  sci- 
ence, and  is  indispensable  to  every  investi- 
gator. It  has  supplied  both  money  and  in- 
struments to  scientific  expeditions  sent  to 
all  parts  of  the  globe,  and  provided  for  the 
suitable  reduction  and  discussion  of  the 
observations  obtained.  It  has  aided  the 
government  of  India  in  the  work  of  the 
Indian  Meteorological  Department  and 
46 


participated  with  the  meteorological  office 
in  the  direction  of  the  work  of  the  Kew 
and  its  sister  observatories.  The  reports  of 
its  Sleeping  Sickness  Commission  have 
advanced  in  an  important  degree  our 
knowledge  of  tropical  diseases.  In  fact, 
one  could  point  to  an  almost  unlimited 
number  of  illustrations  of  the  beneficent 
activities  of  the  Royal  -Society  as  the  lead- 
ing representative  of  British  research,  and 
as  one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in 
broad  projects  of  cooperation,  such  as  those 
of  the  International  Association  of  Acad- 
emies. 

Unlike  the  academies  of  St.  Petersburg, 
Berlin,  Vienna  and  Stockholm,  which 
maintain  large  research  laboratories  or  sup- 
port research  professorships,  the  Royal 
Society  has  no  laboratories  of  its  own. 
Closely  allied  with  it,  however,  is  the  Royal 
Institution,  formerly  known  as  "the  work- 
shop of  the  Royal  Society."  No  labora- 
tory in  existence  can  match  its  extraordi- 
nary record,  accomplished  at  an  almost  in- 
credibly small  cost.40  When  one  recalls 
Young's  great  work  in  laying  the  founda- 

40  Dewar,   address   as  president  of   the   British 
Association,  Belfast,  1902,  p.  11. 
47 


tion  of  the  wave-theory  of  light,  not  to 
speak  of  his  success  in  discovering  the 
first  clue  to  the  translation  of  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics;  Davy's  long  series  of  dis- 
coveries in  chemistry,  and  his  public  lec- 
tures and  demonstrations;  Faraday's  great 
achievements  in  physical  and  chemical 
research,  and  the  dignity  and  luster  he 
imparted  to  the  popular  presentation  of 
scientific  results  to  a  general  audience; 
TyndalPs  success  in  the  same  lecture-hall, 
and  his  services  in  popularizing  science  in 
the  United  States;  and  the  long  series  of 
important  investigations,  especially  in  the 
fruitful  field  of  low  temperature  phenom- 
ena, which  we  owe  to  Dewar,  who  has  now 
occupied  the  chair  of  chemistry  even 
longer  than  Faraday:  these  form  a  record 
remarkable  in  the  annals  of  science,  with 
returns  so  rich  as  to  be  worthy  of  the  ex- 
penditure of  almost  any  sum.  But  even 
this  long  list  does  not  represent  the  total 
product  of  the  laboratory,  where  such  emi- 
nent leaders  as  Lord  Eayleigh  and  Sir 
Joseph  Thomson  have  also  conducted  in- 
vestigations of  the  first  importance.  So 
far  as  my  own  observations  have  gone,  no 

48 


other  laboratory  holds  a  more  tangible  at- 
mosphere of  research  or  stimulates  more 
powerfully  the  imagination  of  the  visitor.  I 
shall  have  occasion  later  to  refer  to  the 
equally  remarkable  success  of  the  Royal  In- 
stitution in  diffusing  and  popularizing 
knowledge  through  its  courses  of  experi- 
mental lectures. 

Academies  of  the  first  class  are  so  nu- 
merous that  only  a  few  of  the  oldest  or- 
ganizations, whose  work  bears  directly 
upon  the  problems  of  our  own  National 
Academy,  can  be  mentioned  in  this  paper. 
I  hope  to  have  opportunity  at  some  future 
time  to  describe  the  work  of  such  influen- 
tial bodies  as  the  Vienna  Academy,  which 
has  founded  a  Radium  Institute  and  taken 
steps  which  should  result  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Solar  Observatory;  the  Stock- 
holm Academy,  entrusted  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  awarding  the  Nobel  Prizes  in 
physics  and  chemistry;  the  Amsterdam 
Academy,  focus  of  the  great  research  work 
of  Holland;  and  many  other  academies  of 
the  highest  rank  representing  the  various 
nations  of  Europe.  For  the  present  I 
must  limit  attention  to  a  group  of  institu- 
tions which  suffice  to  typify  the  wide 
49 


range  of  academic  activities.  However,  a 
word  must  be  added  regarding  the  St. 
Petersburg  Academy,  established  by  Cath- 
erine I.  on  the  plans  of  Peter  the  Great  in 
1725,  because  of  its  special  plan  of  organi- 
zation. The  president,  director  and  fifteen 
members  are  paid  annual  stipends  ranging 
from  one  thousand  to  three  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  provided  with  dwelling  houses. 
The  great  academy  building,  with  its  li- 
brary of  over  36,000  books  and  manuscripts, 
contains  large  laboratories  in  which  in- 
vestigations are  constantly  in  progress. 
The  extensive  publications  include  re- 
searches in  every  field  of  knowledge  and 
exhaustive  memoirs  on  the  topography, 
geography  and  history  of  Russia  and  the 
manners,  customs  and  languages  of  its 
various  peoples. 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  ACADEMIES 

From  this  survey  of  the  work  of  a  few 
of  the  leading  academies  and  allied  institu- 
tions, we  see  that  original  investigations 
have  played  a  large  part  in  their  activities, 
from  the  days  of  the  great  Museum  at 
Alexandria  to  the  present  time.  In  certain 
instances,  illustrated  in  the  history  of  the 

50 


University  of  Berlin,  some  of  the  work  of 
investigation  has  been  transferred  from 
the  academies  to  the  universities,  but 
without  interrupting  the  larger  activities 
of  the  academies  in  the  same  field.  Again, 
in  cases  like  that  of  the  Royal  Society,  the 
development  of  a  closely  allied  laboratory 
of  research,  such  as  the  Royal  Institution, 
has  partially  supplied  the  place  which 
a  laboratory  under  the  exclusive  control  of 
the  Society  might  have  held.  The  essential 
thing  to  note  is  the  advantage  which  re- 
sults from  the  organic  relationship  of  an 
academy  with  a  laboratory  for  the  produc- 
tion of  new  knowledge.  An  academy  will 
reach  its  greatest  influence,  and  serve  its 
most  useful  purpose  in  stimulating  the 
work  of  its  members,  when  it  is  recognized 
as  an  institution  primarily  "for  the  in- 
crease "  rather  than  "for  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men." 

In  the  field  of  publication,  the  national 
academies  of  former  times  were  predomi- 
nant factors,  so  much  so  that  we  owe  to 
their  printed  pages  the  great  volume  of  the 
original  contributions  of  the  earlier  days 
of  science.  With  the  rapid  extension  of 
51 


the  facilities  for  investigation,  and  the  ex- 
tensive ramifications  of  science  into  special 
fields,  the  societies  and  journals  devoted 
to  particular  lines  of  research  naturally 
arose  and  multiplied.  The  prestige  of  such 
publications  as  the  Proceedings  and  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Society  fortunately 
enables  them  to  hold  their  own,  in  spite  of 
the  competition  of  so  many  journals  de- 
voted to  special  subjects.  And  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  by  academies  for  the  pub- 
lication of  extended  memoirs  beyond  the 
range  of  ordinary  periodicals,  is  univer- 
sally appreciated.  As  regards  shorter  com- 
munications, the  peculiar  claims  of  the 
special  journals,  which  have  been  proved 
by  time  to  serve  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  designed,  would  naturally  re- 
ceive consideration  in  elaborating  any  new 
plan  of  academic  publication  to  meet  ex- 
isting needs.  This  subject  will  be  more 
fully  considered  in  a  later  paper. 

In  the  management  and  distribution  of 
trust  funds  for  research,  the  loan  of  instru- 
ments, the  award  of  prizes,  and  especially 
in  the  advice  of  governments  and  individ- 
uals as  to  the  best  means  of  initiating  and 

52 


conducting  scientific  enterprises,  national 
academies  occupy  a  position  which  private 
foundations  can  hardly  hope  to  rival. 
The  value  of  advice  received  from  a  body 
of  the  highest  reputation  and  prestige  is 
greatly  enhanced,  because  of  the  increased 
probability  that  it  will  be  heeded  and 
carried  into  effect.  For  a  similar  reason, 
recognition  of  individual  achievement 
through  the  award  of  prizes  or  election  to 
membership  acquires  its  greatest  weight 
when  received  from  such  a  body. 

After  reviewing  all  of  the  activities 
which  we  see  so  diversely  exemplified  by 
the  national  academies  of  different  coun- 
tries, the  conviction  is  forced  upon  one 
that  the  first  and  best  object  of  these  bod- 
ies must  always  be  to  uphold  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  scientific  research,  and 
to  diffuse  throughout  the  nation  a  true  ap- 
preciation of  the  intellectual  and  practical 
benefits  which  will  inevitably  result  from 
its  support  and  encouragement.  But  to  ac- 
complish great  results  in  this  field,  an 
academy  must  enjoy  the  active  cooperation 
of  the  leaders  of  the  state.  To  appreciate 
this,  we  have  only  to  remember  the  many 
striking  illustrations  afforded  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization.  What  was  done  by 

53 


Alexander  the  Great  and  the  Ptolemies 
for  Egypt,  by  the  house  of  Medici  for 
Italy,  by  Richelieu,  Colbert  and  Napoleon 
for  France,  can  be  done  for  other  nations 
by  living  statesmen  to-day.  In  the  midst 
of  his  campaigns  Napoleon  never  forgot 
the  paramount  claims  of  science  and  the 
fine  arts.  Writing  to  the  astronomer 
Oriani  from  Milan,  which  he  had  entered 
in  triumph,  Napoleon  said: 

The  sciences  which  do  honor  to  the  human  mind 
and  the  arts  which  embellish  life  and  perpetuate 
great  achievements  for  posterity,  should  be  espe- 
cially honored  under  free  governments. 

...  I  invite  the  scholars  to  meet  and  to  give 
me  their  opinions  as  to  the  means  that  should  be 
taken,  and  the  needs  to  be  fulfilled,  in  order  to 
bring  new  life  and  activity  into  the  sciences  and 
the  fine  arts.  Those  who  wish  to  go  to  France 
will  be  received  with  distinction  by  the  govern- 
ment. The  French  people  sets  a  higher  value  on 
the  acquisition  of  a  skilled  mathematician,  a  cele- 
brated painter  or  a  distinguished  man  of  any 
profession,  than  upon  the  possession  of  the  larg- 
est and  richest  city.4* 

This  article  can  not  be  better  closed 
than  by  a  quotation  from  Laplace,  the 
most  distinguished  member  of  the  Paris 
Academy  in  its  brilliant  days  under  the 
first  empire. 

4i  Main dr on,  "L'Acad£mie  des  Sciences,"  205. 
54 


Nature  is  so  varied  in  her  manifestations  and 
phenomena,  and  the  difficulty  of  elucidating  their 
causes  is  so  great,  that  many  must  unite  their 
knowledge  and  efforts  in  order  to  comprehend 
her  and  force  her  to  reveal  her  laws.  This  union 
becomes  indispensable  when  the  progress  of  the 
sciences,  multiplying  their  points  of  contact,  and 
no  longer  permitting  a  single  individual  to  under- 
stand them  all,  throws  upon  a  group  of  investiga- 
tors the  task  of  furnishing  the  mutual  aid  which 
they  demand.  Thus  the  physicist  appeals  to  the 
mathematician  in  his  efforts  to  arrive  at  the  gen- 
eral causes  of  observed  phenomena,  and  the 
mathematician  in  his  turn  consults  the  physicist, 
in  order  to  render  his  investigations  useful  by 
practical  applications,  and  in  the  hope  of  opening 
up  new  possibilities  in  mathematics.  But  the 
chief  advantage  of  academies  is  the  philosophic 
spirit  which  must  develop  within  them,  thence  dif- 
fusing itself  throughout  the  nation  and  permeating 
every  interest.  The  isolated  scholar  may  yield 
with  impunity  to  the  tendencies  of  the  systema- 
tist,  since  he  hears  only  from  afar  the  criticism 
that  he  arouses.  But  in  an  academy  the  impact 
of  such  tendencies  ends  in  their  destruction,  and 
the  desire  for  mutual  conviction  necessarily  es- 
tablishes the  rule  of  admitting  only  the  results  of 
observation  and  calculation.  Furthermore,  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  since  the  origin  of  acad- 
emies the  true  spirit  of  philosophy  has  prevailed. 
By  setting  the  example  of  submitting  everything 
to  the  test  of  severe  logic,  they  have  overthrown 
the  preconceived  notions  which  too  long  domi- 
nated science,  and  were  shared  by  the  ablest 
55 


minds  of  previous  centuries.  Their  useful  influ- 
ence on  public  opinion  has  dissipated  errors 
greeted  in  our  own  time  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  would  have  perpetuated  them  in  earlier 
days.  Equally  removed  from  the  credulity  which 
denies  nothing  and  the  conservatism  which  would 
reject  everything  that  departs  from  accepted 
ideas,  they  have  at  all  times  wisely  awaited  the 
result  of  observation  and  experiment  on  difficult 
questions  and  unusual  phenomena,  promoting 
them  by  prizes  and  by  their  own  researches. 
Measuring  their  approval  no  less  by  the  greatness 
and  difficulty  of  a  discovery  than  by  its  immediate 
utility,  and  convinced,  by  many  examples,  that 
what  appears  to  be  least  fruitful  may  ultimately 
yield  important  consequences,  they  have  encour- 
aged the  pursuit  of  truth  in  all  fields,  excluding 
only  those  which  the  limitations  of  the  human 
understanding  render  forever  inaccessible. 
Finally,  we  owe  to  them  those  great  theories,  ele- 
vated by  their  generality  above  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  layman,  which  through  numerous  ap- 
plications to  natural  phenomena  and  the  arts, 
have  become  inexhaustible  sources  of  happiness 
and  enlightenment.  Wise  governments,  convinced 
of  the  usefulness  of  scientific  societies,  and  re- 
garding them  as  one  of  the  principal  causes  of 
the  glory  and  prosperity  of  empires,  have  estab- 
lished such  bodies  in  their  very  midst,  in  order 
to  profit  by  their  counsel,  which  has  often 
brought  lasting  benefits.42 

42  < '  Exposition  du  Systeme  du  Monde, ' '  Oeuvres, 
Vol.  VI.,  p.  418. 

56 


II.    THE  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY  OF 

THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF 

SCIENCES 

IN  the  days  preceding  the  American  Revo- 
lution, the  Royal  Society  was  to  this  coun- 
try what  it  still  is  to  the  existing  British 
Colonies:  the  central  and  authoritative 
representative  of  scientific  research.1 
Americans  eminent  for  their  contributions 
to  science  were  elected  Fellows,  and  their 
papers  appeared  in  the  Philosophical  Tran- 
sactions. The  list  of  colonial  Fellows  in- 
cludes Cotton  Mather,  Bowdoin,  Dudley, 
and  the  three  Winthrops  in  New  England ; 
Franklin,  Rittenhouse  and  Morgan  in 
Pennsylvania;  Banister,  Clayton,  Mitchell 

1  See  an  excellent  article  by  G.  Browne  Goode, 
from  which  the  data  used  in  the  introduction  of  the 
present  paper  are  taken :  ' l  The  Origin  of  the  Na- 
tional Scientific  and  Educational  Institutions  of  the 
United  States/'  Annual  Eeport  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  for  1889. 
57 


and  Bird,  in  Virginia,  and  Garden  and 
Williamson  in  the  Carolinas.  But  so  distant 
a  body  could  not  meet  all  local  needs.  Thus 
Franklin,  active  in  every  field,  undertook 
the  organization  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society  in  1743,  some  years  before 
its  time,  as  its  early  demise  proved.  In  1766 
the  American  Society  held  at  Philadelphia 
for  Promoting  Useful  Knowledge  was 
established  and  Franklin,  then  in  Europe, 
was  elected  its  first  president.  In  the  mean- 
time the  earlier  society  was  revived,  and 
the  amalgamation  of  the  two  in  1769  gave 
rise  to  a  scientific  body  which  has  always 
exercised  a  powerful  and  beneficent  influ- 
ence on  the  progress  of  science  in  the 
United  States.  The  prominence  in  the  af- 
fairs of  state  of  its  leading  members  is  illus- 
trated in  the  frequent  interruptions  to  the 
proceedings  of  the  society  between  1773 
and  1779,  when  these  men,  who  included 
Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson  and 
Adams,  were  occupied  with  the  labors  of 
organizing  the  new  republic.  The  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  modelled  after 
the  Royal  Society,  but  embracing  the  whole 
field  of  knowledge,  soon  assumed  great 

58 


importance  at  its  seat  in  Philadelphia,  then 
the  center  of  American  scientific  and  liter- 
ary life. 

John  Adams,  when  representing  the 
United  States  in  France,  learned  of  the  ap- 
preciation in  which  the  Philosophical  So- 
ciety was  held  in  academic  circles.  On  his 
return  to  Boston  in  1779  he  suggested  the 
establishment  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  which  was  duly  incorpo- 
rated by  act  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Legislature  in  1780.  At  this  time  the  in- 
fluence of  France  was  naturally  more  potent 
than  that  of  England,  and  the  Academies 
of  Paris  were  chosen  as  models  by  the  char- 
ter members  of  the  new  organization. 

The  year  1778  marks  the  inception  of  an 
ambitious  plan,  proposed  by  the  Chevalier 
Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire.  His  scheme  for 
the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  the 
United  States  had  been  endorsed  by  the 
King  of  France,  the  Royal  Academies  of 
Science  and  of  the  Fine  Arts,  and  by  La- 
voisier, Condorcet  and  many  eminent 
Frenchmen.  The  sum  of  sixty  thousand 
francs  was  subscribed  by  wealthy  Virgin- 
ians, and  a  building  was  erected  in  Eich- 

59 


mond  in  1786.  One  (French)  professor 
was  appointed  to  make  natural  history  col- 
lections and  extensive  plans  for  branch 
establishments  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia 
and  New  York  were  contemplated.  But  the 
French  Revolution  put  an  end  to  this  in- 
tellectual exotic. 

In  the  present  paper,  devoted  primarily 
to  the  history  of  the  National  Academy,  we 
must  pass  over  many  interesting  develop- 
ments in  the  early  scientific  life  of  the 
nation.  Reference  must  be  made,  how- 
ever, to  the  incorporation  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science 
in  1848,  and  to  the  intense  vitality  which 
has  enabled  this  body,  in  cooperation  with 
many  special  societies  of  later  origin,  to 
bring  the  results  of  scientific  research 
within  the  reach  of  an  ever-widening  public. 

Alexander  Dallas  Bache,  superinten- 
dent of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey 
from  1843  to  1867,  and  one  of  the  leading 
spirits  of  his  time,  was  among  the  first  to 
express  publicly  the  demand  for  a  national 
organization  of  American  research  officially 
recognized  as  such  by  Congress.2  In  his 

2  For  most  of  the  material  in  the  following  pages 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  a  history  of  the  "  First 
60 


presidential  address  to  the  American  As- 
sociation for  the  Advancement  of  Science 
in  1851  he  emphasized  the  need  of  "an  in- 
stitution of  science,  supplementary  to  ex- 
isting ones,  to  guide  public  action  in  refer- 
ence to  scientific  matters." 

Suppose  an  institute  of  which  the  members  be- 
long in  turn  to  each  of  our  widely  scattered 
states,  working  at  their  places  of  residence  and 
reporting  their  results;  meeting  only  at  particular 
times,  and  for  special  purposes;  engaged  in  re- 
searches self-directed,  or  desired  by  the  body, 
called  for  by  congress  or  by  the  executive,  who 
furnish  the  means  for  the  inquiries.  .  .  .  The 
public  treasury  would  be  saved  many  times  the 
support  of  such  a  council,  by  the  sound  advice 
which  it  would  give  in  regard  to  various  projects 
which  are  constantly  forced  upon  their  notice,  and 
in  regard  to  which  they  are  compelled  to  decide 
without  the  knowledge  which  alone  can  ensure  a 
wise  conclusion. 

.  .  .  Such  a  body  would  supply  a  place  not  oc- 
cupied by  existing  institutions,  and  which  our  own 

Half  Century  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences/' prepared  and  edited  by  Frederick  W. 
True,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Arnold  Hague, 
then  Home  Secretary,  in  connection  with  the  re- 
cent celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  Academy. 

61 


is,   from  its   temporary   and  voluntary   character, 
not  able  to  supply.3 

As  president  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion, and  as  a  prominent  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  and  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
Bache  entertained  no  misconception  regard- 
ing the  admirable  aims  and  the  no  less  admir- 
able successes  of  these  older  societies.  Each 
performed  then,  as  it  does  now,  a  useful 
function  of  broad  scope,  which  the  proposed 
organization  was  not  to  rival  but  to  supple- 
ment. The  American  Philosophical  Society 
continues  to  exert  a  wide  and  useful  influ- 
ence, drawing  to  its  annual  meetings  in 
Philadelphia  a  large  body  of  able  men 
representing  every  field  of  knowledge. 
Its  strong  vitality  and  its  traditions 
of  a  scholarly  past  are  shared 
by  the  American  Academy,  now  rapidly 
increasing  in  membership  and  advantage- 
ously established  in  the  permanent  home 
provided  for  it  in  Boston  by  Alexander 
Agassiz.  The  American  Association,  like 
the  British  Association  for  the  Advance- 

3  Op.  cit.,  pp.  7,  8. 

62 


ment  of  Science,  holds  its  annual  meetings 
in  widely  scattered  cities,  thus  bringing 
under  its  influence  a  great  number  of  peo- 
ple, whose  attention  might  not  be  attracted 
from  a  distance.  Clearly  there  was  still 
room  for  an  academy  chartered  by  congress 
and  closely  related  to  the  national  govern- 
ment, to  which  it  might  render  some  such 
services  as  the  principal  countries  of  Eu- 
rope receive  from  their  great  academies. 

Bache 's  hopes  were  to  be  realized  twelve 
years  later.  On  February  11,  1863,  Gideon 
Welles,  secretary  of  the  navy,  appointed 
Admiral  Davis,  Professor  Henry  and  Pro- 
fessor Bache  a  "Permanent  Commission" 
"to  which  shall  be  referred  questions  of 
science  and  art  upon  which  the  (navy)  de- 
partment may  require  information."4  En- 
couraged by  this  governmental  recognition, 
Bache,  Peirce,  Davis,  Gould  and  Agassiz  in- 
duced Senator  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  to 
introduce  in  congress  a  bill  to  incorporate 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.  This 
passed  the  Senate  and  House  on  March  3, 
1863,  and  was  signed  by  the  president  on 
the  same  day. 

4  Op.  tit.,  p.  i. 

63 


The  act  of  incorporation  named  fifty  men 
of  science  as  charter  members,  and  limited 
the  membership  of  the  Academy  to  this 
number.  A  second  act  of  congress,  passed 
in  1870,  removed  this  limitation.  At  pres- 
ent the  amended  constitution  provides  that 
ten  new  members  may  be  elected  annually. 
The  actual  number  of  names  now  on  the 
roll  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-two.  In 
addition  to  these  there  are  forty-nine  for- 
eign associates  and  one  honorary  member. 

The  list  of  incorporators  contains  many 
distinguished  names:  Agassiz,  Alexander, 
Bache,  Barnard,  Dana,  Davis,  Gilliss, 
Gould,  Wolcott  Gibbs,  Asa  Gray,  Guyot, 
James  Hall,  Henry,  Hilgard,  Le  Conte, 
Leidy,  Lesley,  Newberry,  Newton,  Peirce, 
Rogers,  Rutherfurd,  Silliman,  Torrey, 
Whitney,  Wyman — among  others  equally 
well  known.  Chosen  from  the  country  at 
large,  and  fairly  representative  of  the  sci- 
ence of  the  day,  the  membership  was 
worthy  of  a  truly  national  body. 

The  organization  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy was  "the  first  recognition  by  our  gov- 
ernment of  the  importance  of  abstract  sci- 
ence as  an  essential  element  of  mental  and 

64 


material  progress/'5  One  of  the  objects 
in  the  minds  of  its  founders  was  to  confer 
distinction  on  men  of  science  who  had  ac- 
complished important  original  research, 
and  thus  to  encourage  and  stimulate  them 
to  further  effort.  Another  prime  object 
was  to  aid  the  government  in  the  solution 
of  problems  of  a  scientific  nature.  In  1863, 
the  year  of  the  Academy's  incorporation, 
the  civil  war  was  in  progress,  and  the  gov- 
ernment stood  in  need  of  just  such  advice 
as  a  body  of  able  scientific  men  could  sup- 
ply. It  will  be  seen  later  that  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Academy  was  often  sought  and 
rendered,  not  alone  in  this  period,  but  also 
in  subsequent  years. 

The  idea  that  a  democratic  government 
could  not  consistently  confer  distinction 
upon  its  citizens,  though  held  by  some  crit- 
ics of  the  day,  was  not  shared  by  Joseph 
Henry,  whose  words  may  again  be  quoted 
from  the  report  cited  above: 

It  is  not  enough  for  our  government  to  offer  en- 
couragement to  the  direct  promotion  of  the  useful 
arts  through  the  more  or  less  fortunate  efforts  of 

6  From  the  report  for  1867  of  Joseph  Henry, 
president  of  the  National  Academy,  op.  cit.,  p. 
14. 

65 


inventors;  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  if  we  would 
advance  or  even  preserve  our  reputation  for  true 
intelligence,  that  encouragement  and  facilities 
should  be  afforded  for  devotion  to  original  re- 
search in  the  various  branches  of  human  knowledge. 
In  the  other  countries  scientific  discovery  is  stimu- 
lated by  pensions,  by  titles  of  honor  and  by  various 
social  and  official  distinctions.  The  French  aca- 
demicians receive  an  annual  salary  and  are  deco- 
rated with  the  insignia  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 
Similar  marks  of  distinction  are  conferred  on  the 
members  of  the  Academy  of  Berlin  and  that  of 
St.  Petersburg.  These  modes  of  stimulation  or 
encouragement  may  be  considered  inconsistent  with 
our  social  ideas  and  perhaps  with  our  forms  of 
government.  There  are  honors,  nevertheless,  which 
in  an  intelligent  democracy  have  been  and  may  be 
justly  awarded  to  those  who  enlarge  the  field  of 
human  thought  and  human  power.  Heretofore,  but 
two  principal  means  of  distinction  have  been  rec- 
ognized in  this  country,  viz.:  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  and  the  possession  of  political  power.  The 
war  seems  to  have  offered  a  third,  in  bestowing 
position  and  renown  for  successful  military 
achievement.  The  establishment  of  this  Academy 
may  be  perhaps  regarded  as  having  opened  a  fourth 
avenue  for  the  aspirations  of  a  laudable  ambition, 
which  interferes  neither  with  our  national  preju- 
dices nor  our  political  principles,  and  which  only 
requires  the  fostering  care  of  government  to  be- 
come of  essential  benefit  and  importance  not  only 
66 


to    this,    but    all    the    civilized    countries    of   the 
world.6 

The  special  problems  raised  by  the  civil 
war  emphasized  the  value  of  the  services 
which  the  Academy  might  render  the  gov- 
ernment, at  a  period  when  most  of  the  sci- 
entific bureaus  of  later  years  were  not  yet 
organized.  But  the  war  had  only  an  inci- 
dental bearing  on  the  designation  of  the 
Academy  as  the  scientific  adviser  of  the  na- 
tion. The  desire  of  President  Lincoln  and 
his  Secretary  of  State  to  receive  advice 
from  the  Academy  on  more  general  ques- 
tions is  shown  by  the  following  letter  from 
Secretary  Seward  to  President  Bache  :7 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
WASHINGTON,  January  8,  1864. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  your  note  of  the  7th  instant,  tendering 
to  this  department  the  aid  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  any  investigation  that  it  may  be 
thought  proper  to  institute  with  a  view  to  the 
great  reform  of  producing  an  uniformity  of 
weights  and  measures  among  commercial  nations. 
Be  pleased  to  express  to  the  Academy  my  sincere 
thanks  for  this  enlightened  and  patriotic  pro- 
ceeding, and  assure  them  that,  with  the  authority 

6  Op.  cit.,  p.  14. 
*  Op.  cit.,  p.  16. 

67 


of  the  President,  I  shall  be  happy  to  avail  myself 
of  the  assistance  thus  tendered  to  me,  and  to  that 
end  I  shall  at  all  times  be  happy  to  receive  the 
suggestions  of  the  Academy,  or  of  any  committee 
that  may  be  named  by  it,  in  conformity  with  the 
spirit  of  the  note  you  have  addressed  to  me. 
I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD 

We  shall  have  occasion  later  to  consider 
how  the  Academy  has  assisted  the  govern- 
ment in  the  solution  of  problems  of  the 
most  diverse  character. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy, attended  by  more  than  three  fifths  of 
the  incorporators,  was  held  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  City  of  New  York  on  April  22, 
1863.  Senator  Wilson,  who  had  introduced 
in  the  senate  the  bill  of  incorporation,  ad- 
dressed the  Academy  at  the  opening  of  the 
first  session.  After  alluding  to  the  fact 
that  the  idea  of  forming  such  an  institution 
had  long  existed,  he  dwelt  on  the  signifi- 
cance of  unanimous  action  by  congress  at  a 
time  when  the  country  was  suffering  under 
the  burden  of  the  great  civil  war.  With  its 
widely  distributed  membership,  he  felt  that 
the  Academy  would  contribute  in  the  future 
68 


toward  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the 
nation. 

With  Professor  Henry  in  the  chair,  and 
other  leaders  of  American  science  taking 
part  in  the  deliberations,  the  work  of  the 
Academy  was  begun  under  the  most  favor- 
able auspices.  The  constitution  and  by- 
laws were  prepared  by  a  strong  committee, 
including  such  men  as  Agassiz,  Benjamin 
Gould,  Peirce  and  Silliman,  with  Bache  as 
chairman.  After  three  days  of  discussion 
they  were  adopted  by  the  Academy,  and 
finally  ratified  at  the  first  Washington 
meeting,  held  in  one  of  the  committee  rooms 
of  the  senate  on  January  4-6,  1864. 

In  the  space  at  our  disposal,  we  must 
content  ourselves  with  a  brief  glance  at  the 
principal  acts  of  the  Academy  during  the 
fifty  years  of  its  existence,  referring  the 
reader  to  the  work  so  often  cited  for  further 
details.  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of 
the  constitution,  the  members  were  divided 
into  two  classes,  (a)  mathematics  and  phys- 
ics, and  (6)  natural  history,  each  class  hav- 
ing a  chairman  and  secretary.  The  names 
of  the  sections,  and  the  number  of  members 
in  each,  are  given  in  the  following  table : 


Class  of  Mathematics  and  Physics 

Number 

of 
Members 

Sect.  1.     Mathematics 6 

Sect.  2.     Physics    6 

Sect.  3.     Astronomy,  Geography  and  Geod- 
esy     9 

Sect.  4.     Mechanics  6 

Sect.  5.     Chemistry   3       30 

Class  of  Natural  History 

Number 

of 
Member! 

Sect.  1.  Mineralogy  and  Geology 6 

Sect.  2.  Zoology   5 

Sect.  3.  Botany 1 

Sect.  4.  Anatomy  and  Physiology 2 

Sect.  5.  Ethnology 0       14 

Total "  "    44 

It  is  interesting  to  contrast  this  organi- 
zation with,  that  existing  at  the  present 
time : 

Sect.  1.     Mathematics  and  Astronomy. ..  .23 

Sect.  2.     Physics  and  Engineering 25 

Sect.  3.     Chemistry   23 

71 

Deduct  names  counted  twice.  5       66 
70 


Sect.  4.     Geology  and  Paleontology 24 

Sect.  5.     Botany    9 

Sect.  6.     Zoology  and  Animal  Morphology.   18 

Sect.  7.     Physiology  and  Pathology 15 

Sect.  8.     Anthropology  and  Psychology...  9 

75 

Deduct  names  counted  twice    9      66 
Total ~"   132 

At  the  outset,  two  thirds  of  the  members 
belonged  to  the  class  of  mathematics  and 
physics,  and  only  one  third  to  the  class  of 
natural  history.  At  present,  while  the  two 
classes  no  longer  exist  as  such,  it  is  easy  to 
group  the  members  in  the  same  way.  De- 
ducting the  names  counted  twice,  we  find 
that  66  would  now  fall  in  the  first  class,  and 
exactly  the  same  number  in  the  second. 
Thus  the  discrepancy  formerly  existing 
between  the  two  classes  has  been  adjusted 
in  the  process  of  time.8 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  division 
of  members  into  sections  is  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  nominations  for  new 

8  DeCandolle  notes  a  similar  preference  for  the 
mathematical  and  physical  sciences  on  the  part  of 
the  Berlin  Academy  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, which  was  subsequently  adjusted  by  revision 
of  the  statutes.  ("Histoire  des  Sciences  et  des 
Savants/'  2  ed.,  p.  261.) 
71 


elections,  as  now  provided  by  the  constitu- 
tion. 

In  view  of  the  preponderance  of  physi- 
cists, it  is  not  surprising  that  three  fourths 
of  the  scientific  papers  read  at  the  first 
Washington  meeting  were  connected  with 
the  physical  sciences.  These  papers  were 
referred  to  the  committee  on  publication, 
with  instructions  to  publish,  but  the  lack  of 
funds  for  this  purpose  stood  in  the  way. 
When  the  first  volume  of  the  Memoirs 
finally  appeared  in  1866,  it  contained  but 
two  of  these  papers.  It  was  then  planned 
to  print  the  minor  papers  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  academy,  but  this  was  never 
done.  The  first  part  of  the  first  volume  of 
the  Proceedings  was  published  in  1877. 
This  contained  the  constitution  and  by- 
laws, reports  on  the  principal  business  ac- 
tions of  the  Academy,  and  much  miscel- 
laneous matter  relating  to  resolutions 
passed,  titles  of  papers  presented,  reports 
of  committees,  etc.  Publication  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings was  discontinued  in  1895,  after 
three  parts  had  appeared.9  In  1881,  649 
papers  had  been  read  at  the  scientific  ses- 
sions. President  Eogers,  feeling  that  the 

9  Op.  tit.,  p.  44. 

72 


Academy  would  have  received  much  more 
recognition  from  the  scientific  world  if 
these  had  been  printed,  strongly  and  re- 
peatedly urged  that  the  papers  be  collected 
annually  and  transmitted  to  congress  with 
the  report.10  Unfortunately  this  was  never 
done,  and  the  reports  still  give  only  an  ab- 
stract of  the  proceedings,  in  which  the 
papers  appear  by  title.  The  importance 
of  reviving  and  enlarging  the  Proceedings 
will  be  discussed  in  another  article. 

The  Academy  has  published  eleven  vol- 
umes of  Memoirs,  containing  68  quarto 
papers,  and  seven  volumes  of  Biographical 
Memoirs  of  deceased  members,  in  addition 
to  annual  reports  and  reports  of  com- 
mittees. 

In  view  of  the  existence  of  a  detailed 
history  of  the  Academy,  it  is  quite  unnec- 
essary in  the  present  paper  to  dwell  at 
length  upon  the  events  of  the  first  fifty 
years.  A  brief  outline  of  the  more  impor- 
tant work  of  the  Academy  is  nevertheless 
essential  to  clearness,  especially  in  connec- 
tion with  the  suggestions  for  the  future 
which  are  to  be  presented  later.  We  may, 
therefore,  consider  briefly:  (1)  the  work 

10  op.  cit.y  p.  51. 

73 


of  the  members;  (2)  the  Academy's  work 
for  the  national  government;  (3)  medals 
and  trust  funds,  and  (4)  cooperation  in  re- 
search. 

THE   WORK   OF   THE    MEMBERS 

In  his  report  for  1867  as  president  of 
the  Academy,  Joseph  Henry  spoke  as  fol- 
lows of  the  conditions  of  membership: 

It  was  implied  in  the  organization  of  such  a 
body  that  it  should  be  exclusively  composed  of  men 
distinguished  for  original  research,  and  that  to  be 
chosen  one  of  its  members  would  be  considered  a 
high  honor,  and  consequently  a  stimulus  to  scien- 
tific labor,  and  that  no  one  would  be  elected  into 
it  who  had  not  earned  the  distinction  by  actual 
discoveries  enlarging  the  field  of  human  knowledge. 

.  .  .  since  the  original  organization,  the  prin- 
ciple before  mentioned  has  been  strictly  observed, 
and  no  one  has  been  admitted  except  after  a  full 
discussion  of  his  claims  and  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  question,  "What  has  he  done  to  advance 
science  in  the  line  of  research  which  he  has  espe- 
cially prosecuted  ?" 

And  again,  in  his  valedictory  address  to 
the  Academy  (1878),  Henry  returned  to 
this  subject. 

For  this  purpose  great  care  must  be  exercised  in 
the  selection  of  its  members.    It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten for  a  moment  that  the  basis  of  selection  is 
actual  scientific  labor  in  the  way  of  original  re- 
74 


search;  that  is,  in  making  positive  additions  to 
the  sum  of  human  knowledge,  connected  with  un- 
impeachable moral  character. 

It  is  not  social  position,  popularity,  extended 
authorship  or  success  as  an  instructor  in  science, 
which  entitles  to  membership,  but  actual  new  dis- 
coveries, nor  are  these  sufficient  if  the  reputation 
of  the  candidate  is  in  the  slightest  degree  tainted 
with  injustice  or  want  of  truth. 

These  principles  have  been  observed  to 
the  present  day,  sometimes  in  the  face  of 
great  temptation  to  elect  men  eminent  for 
achievements  other  than  those  of  original 
research.  Thus  the  Academy  has  counted 
among  its  members  the  large  majority  of 
the  leaders  of  American  science.  While 
it  is  of  course  impossible  to  describe  their 
individual  contributions  in  these  pages,11 
some  remarks  on  the  progress  of  American 
research  since  the  foundation  of  the  Acad- 
emy will  be  given  in  a  later  paper. 

THE   WORK   OF    THE   ACADEMY   FOB   THE 
NATION 

In  the  first  annual  report  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Academy,  presented  to  congress 
in  1864,  Professor  Bache  remarked: 

11  Biographies  of  the  incorporates  may  be  found 
in  the  "History  of  the  National  Academy/'  so 
often  cited. 

75 


The  want  of  an  institution  by  which  the  scien- 
tific strength  of  the  country  may  be  brought,  from 
time  to  time,  to  the  aid  of  the  government  in  guid- 
ing action  by  the  knowledge  of  scientific  principles 
and  experiments,  has  long  been  felt  by  the  patri- 
otic scientific  men  of  the  United  States.  No  gov- 
ernment of  Europe  has  been  willing  to  dispense 
with  a  body,  under  some  name,  capable  of  render- 
ing such  aid  to  the  government,  and  in  turn  of  il- 
lustrating the  country  by  scientific  discovery  and 
by  literary  culture. 

In  a  previous  paper  the  distinctive  posi- 
tion held  by  European  academies  as  or- 
ganizations of  the  government,  and  the 
services  they  render  to  the  state,  have  been 
briefly  described.12  Here,  as  elsewhere  in 
these  papers,  we  must  not  overlook  the 
special  conditions  which  distinguish  the 
National  Academy  from  similar  bodies 
abroad.  The  Royal  Society  and  the  Paris 
Academy  of  Sciences,  dating  from  the 
earliest  beginnings  of  science  in  England 
and  France,  have  been  the  media  through 
which  the  great  advances  of  more  than  two 
centuries  have  reached  the  world.  Discov- 
ery after  discovery,  first  presented  at  their 
meetings  and  published  in  their  proceed- 
ings, has  been  rightly  associated  in  the 

12  SCIENCE,  November  14,  1913. 
76 


• 


public  mind  with  these  great  societies, 
which  have  fostered  science  and  encour- 
aged the  labors  of  investigators.  Thus 
they  have  acquired  a  prestige  and  a  power 
in  the  state  which  could  arise  in  no  other 
way.  It  is  not  enough  for  a  nation  to 
charter  an  organization  and  to  authorize  it 
to  act  as  the  adviser  of  the  government  in 
scientific  affairs.  Appreciation  of  the 
fundamental  importance  of  science  as  the 
source  of  all  industrial  progress,  and  con- 
fidence in  the  body  appointed  to  advise  the 
nation,  are  obvious  prerequisites  to  that 
cooperation  between  statesmen  and  men  of 
science  which  is  essential  to  complete  suc- 
cess. 

In  spite  of  the  disadvantage  of  a  widely 
scattered  membership,  whose  (discoveries 
and  contributions  to  science  have  always 
reached  the  world  through  other  channels, 
and  with  no  home  of  its  own  to  focus  at- 
tention on  its  activities,  the  National  Acad- 
emy has  often  been  called  into  the  service 
of  the  country.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  give 
here  a  list  of  the  subjects  on  which  the 
Academy  has  been  consulted  by  the  govern- 
ment, referring  the  reader  to  the  "History 
77 


of  the   National   Academy"    (pp.   201   to 
331)  for  all  details. 

COMMITTEES    APPOINTED    BY    THE    ACADEMY    ON 
BEHALF  OF   THE  GOVERNMENT 

1.  Committees  appointed  in  accordance  with  Acts 

of  Congress. 

1871.  On  the  Transit  of  Venus. 

1872.  On     Preparing     Instructions     for     the 

Polaris   Expedition. 

1878.  On  a  Plan  for  Surveying  and  Mapping 

the  Territories  of  the  United  States. 

1879.  On  a  National  Board  of  Health. 

1894.  To  Prescribe  and  Publish  Specifications 
for  the  Practical  Application  of  the 
Definitions  of  the  Ampere  and  Volt. 

1908.  On  the  Methods  and  Expenses  of  Con- 
ducting Scientific  Work  Under  the 
Government. 

2.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  Joint 

Commissions   and   Committees   of   Congress. 

1884.  On  the  Signal  Service  of  the  Army,  the 
Geological  Survey,  the  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey,  and  the  Hydro- 
graphic  Office  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment. 

1902.  On  the  Establishment  of  a  National 
Forest  Eeserve  in  the  Southern  Ap- 
palachians. 

3.  Committees    appointed    at    the    request    of    the 

President  of  the  United  States. 
1870.  On  the  Protection  of  Coal  Mines  from 
Explosion  by  Means  of  Electricity. 
78 


J902.  On  Scientific  Explorations  in  the  Philip- 
pines. 
4.  Committees    appointed    at    the    request   of   the 

Treasury  Department. 

1863.  On  the  National  Currency  (Confidential). 
1863.  On   Weights,  Measures  and  Coinage. 

1863.  On  Saxton's  Alcoholometer. 

1864.  On  Materials  for   the  Manufacture   of 

Cent  Coins. 

1866.  On  the  Prevention  of  Counterfeiting. 

1866.  On  Spirit  Meters. 

1866.  On  Proving  and  Gauging  Distilled  Spir- 
its and  Preventing  Fraud. 

1866.  On  Metric  Standards  for  the  States. 

1870.  On  the  Effect  of  Chemicals  on  Internal 
Eevenue  Stamps. 

1873.  On  an  International  Bureau  of  Weights 
and  Measures. 

1875.  On  Water -proofing  the  Fractional  Cur- 
rency. 

1875.  On  Means  of  distinguishing  Calf's  Hair 

from  Woolen  Goods   (Confidential). 

1876.  On  Artificial  Coloring  of  Sugars  to  Sim- 

ulate a  Lower  Grade  According  to  the 
Standard  on  which  Duties  are  Levied 
(Confidential). 

1876.  On  the  Use  of  Polarized  Light  to  Deter- 

mine the  Values  of  Sugars. 

1877.  On  Demerara  Sugars. 

1878.  On  Building  Stone  to  be  used  for  the 

Custom  House  at  Chicago  (no  re- 
port). 

79 


1882.  On  the  Separation  of  Methyl  Alcohol  or 
Wood  Spirits  from  Ethyl  Alcohol. 

1882.  On  Glucose. 

1882.  On  Triangulation  Connecting  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Coasts  (no  report). 

1884.  On   Philosophical  and   Scientific   Appa- 

ratus. 

1885.  On  the  Tariff  Classification  of  Wools. 
1886 

and 

1887.  On  the  Morphine  Content  of  Opium. 

1887.  On  Quartz  Plates  used  in  Saccharimeters 
for  Sugar  Determinations. 

1890.  To  Formulate  a  Plan  for  a  Systematic 
Search  for  the  North  Magnetic  Pole. 
5.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  Navy 
Department. 

1863.  On  Protecting  the  Bottoms  of  Iron  Ves- 
sels. 

1863.  On  Magnetic  Deviation  in  Iron  Ships. 

1863.  On  Wind  and  Current  Charts  and  Sail- 

ing Directions. 

1864.  On  the  Explosion  on  the  United  States 

Steamer  Chenango. 
1864.  On   Experiments  on   the  Expansion  of 

Steam. 
1877.  On  Proposed  Changes  in  the  American 

Ephemeris. 

1881.  On  the  Transit  of  Venus. 
1885.  On    the    Astronomical    Day,    the    Solar 

Eclipse  of  1886,  and  the  Erection  of 

a  New  Naval  Observatory. 


80 


6.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  War 

Department. 

1864.  On  the  Question  of  Tests  for  the  Purity 
of  Whiskey. 

1866.  On  the  Preservation  of  Paint  on  Army 

Knapsacks. 

1867.  On  Galvanic  Action  from  Association  of 

Zinc  and  Iron. 

1873.  On  the  Exploration  of  the  Yellowstone. 
1881.  On  Questions  'of  Meteorological  Science 

and  its  Application. 

7.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  De- 

partment of  State. 

1866.  On  the  Improvement  of  Greytown  Har- 
bor, Nicaragua. 

1903.  On  the  Restoration  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

8.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  De- 

partment of  Agriculture. 
1870.  On  Silk  Culture  in  the  United  States. 
1881.  On  Sorghum  Sugar. 

9.  Committees  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  De- 

partment of  the  Interior. 

1880.  On  the  Restoration  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

1896.  On  the  Inauguration  of  a  Rational  For- 
est Policy  for  the  Forested  Lands 
of  the  United  States. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  many  of  the  ques- 
tions referred  to  the  Academy  are  of  such 
a  nature  that,  at  the  present  day,  they 
could  be  satisfactorily  answered  by  one  or 

81 


another  of  the  scientific  departments  of  the 
government.  This  probably  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  the  requests  for  the  Academy 's 
assistance  have  become  less  numerous  as 
the  national  laboratories  and  scientific 
bureaus  have  multiplied  and  improved. 
But  after  full  allowance  has  been  made  for 
such  wholly  desirable  developments,  it  re- 
mains true  that  questions  of  broad  scope, 
requiring  the  cooperation  of  authorities  in 
several  fields  of  knowledge  for  their  solu- 
tion, must  arise  from  time  to  time.  In 
such  cases  the  Academy  can  afford  assist- 
ance obtainable  in  no  other  way,  and  an 
enlightened  government  will  advantage- 
ously seek  its  counsel. 

The  overthrow  of  the  spoils  system  in 
national  politics  will  afford  the  Academy 
another  opportunity  to  serve  the  nation. 
In  France,  when  a  professorship  in  the  na- 
tional university,  or  the  directorship  of  a 
national  observatory  or  laboratory  falls 
vacant,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  is  re- 
quested to  present  its  first  and  second 
choice  of  a  successor.  The  Minister  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  then  appoints  one  of  the 
nominees  to  the  position.  In  the  United 
82 


States  the  need  of  such  counsel  is  no  less 
urgent  than  in  France. 

MEDALS  AND  TRUST  FUNDS 

Election  to  the  National  Academy  has 
always  been  appreciated  as  a  high  honor 
by  American  men  of  science.  Fortunately, 
however,  the  recognition  and  assistance  the 
Academy  has  been  able  to  afford  to  investi- 
gators has  not  been  confined  to  the  gift  of 
this  mark  of  distinction.  From  time  to 
time  trust  funds  have  been  established,  the 
incomes  of  which  are  devoted  to  the  award 
of  medals  or  to  grants  for  research.  The 
will  of  Alexander  Dallas  Bache,  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Academy,  directed  that  the 
residue  of  his  estate,  after  the  death  of  his 
wife,  should  be  paid  over  to  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  for  the  ' '  prosecution 
of  researches  in  Physical  and  Natural  Sci- 
ence by  assisting  experimentalists  and  ob- 
servers." Bache 's  excellent  example  has 
often  been  followed,  with  the  results  shown 
in  the  following  table. 

The  importance  of  the  part  played  by 
these  funds  in  advancing  science  may  be 
illustrated  by  reference  to  some  of  the  re- 
sults obtained. 

83 


General 
Researc 
Prize  ev 
ele 


M 


„  iifl1!! 

'Sc-2  g  &g  >*v  I  | 
•C  o^  2  l-s  ^3  a  S 
OH  A  C 


oo»o  ^  oocoo 

O  O  !>.*  O  o  O  l>  O 

§O  CO  O  O  O  1~^  O 

O  CO  "^  O  O  CO  O 

cTco"cT  cT  co^cTc 


o 

o" 


13 
' 


8.8.8  §- 

§*  o  o  o 

o  o  o 

o  *o  o  o 


CO 


00 
cd 


rH  t-   O 

as  oo  aj 


CO  l>  C<1  rH  lO 

Oi  O5  rH  rH  OO 

OO  OO  C5  O>  OO 


1 


•  o 

:O 


:  o 

oa^a 


fi     -.9 


a 

a> 

W 


^ 


g 

.2 


O 


s 

60 

a 


PQ 


84 


The  Agassiz  Fund  has  proved  to  be  of 
great  value  in  meeting  the  general  expenses 
of  the  Academy,  for  which  there  was  for- 
merly no  provision  except  the  dues  of  the 
members. 

The  Bache  Fund  made  twelve  appropri- 
ations to  Hilgard  for  his  magnetic  survey 
of  the  United  States,  four  to  Langley  for 
his  important  studies  of  the  physical  con- 
stitution of  the  sun,  six  to  Wolcott  Gibbs 
for  his  researches  on  complex  inorganic 
acids  and  his  studies  of  the  action  of  chem- 
ical compounds  upon  the  animal  system, 
one  each  to  Newcomb  and  Michelson  for 
their  classic  determinations  of  the  veloc- 
ity of  light,  three  others  to  Michelson  for 
his  equally  fundamental  optical  researches, 
six  to  Rowland  for  his  great  work  in  map- 
ping and  identifying  the  lines  of  the  solar 
spectrum,  three  to  Pickering  for  his  pio- 
neer researches  in  stellar  photography,  two 
to  Gould  for  his  measurements  of  the  Cor- 
doba photographs  of  the  southern  heavens, 
six  to  Boss  for  his  studies  of  solar  and 
stellar  motions  and  his  precise  measures  of 
standard  stars,  and  two  to  Osborn  for  the 
work  of  the  Academy  Committee  on  Corre- 
lation. These  cases  include  only  a  fraction 
85 


of  the  total  number  of  grants  from  the 
fund. 

The  Barnard  Gold  Medal  for  Meritorious 
Services  to  Science,  awarded  every  five 
years  by  Columbia  University  to  the  nomi- 
nee of  the  National  Academy,  has  been 
given  to  Kayleigh,  Rontgen,  Becquerel  and 
Kutherford. 

The  first  award  of  th£  Comstock  Prize  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  was  made  last 
April  to  Professor  Eobert  Millikan,  of  the 
University  of  Chicago,  for  his  researches 
on  the  charge  of  the  electron  and  related 
investigations. 

The  Henry  Draper  Gold  Medal  for  astro- 
physical  research  has  been  awarded  to 
Langley,  Pickering,  Rowland,  Vogel, 
Keeler,  Huggins,  Hale,  Campbell,  Abbot 
and  Deslandres.  Several  grants  to  assist 
investigation  have  also  been  made  from  the 
surplus  income. 

The  capital  of  the  Wolcott  Gibbs  Fund 
for  chemical  research  is  being  increased  by 
additions  of  accumulated  income,  and  no 
grants  are  being  made  at  present.  The  in- 
come of  the  Marsh  Fund  is  also  being 
added  to  the  capital. 

A  large  number  of  investigations  have 
86 


been  assisted  by  the  Gould  Fund,  includ- 
ing those  of  Doolittle,  Parkhurst,  Yendell, 
Newcomb,  Leavenworth,  Comstock  and 
others.  At  present  the  income  is  used 
mainly  for  the  support  of  the  Astronom- 
ical Journal. 

The  Alexander  Agassiz  Gold  Medal,  es- 
tablished by  Sir  John  Murray  for  oceano- 
graphic  research,  was  awarded  for  the  first 
time  last  April  to  Dr.  Johan  Hjort,  of  the 
Norwegian  Fish  Commission,  for  his  val- 
uable contributions  to  knowledge  relating 
to  deep-sea  life. 

The  Lawrence  Smith  Gold  Medal  for  the 
investigation  of  meteoric  bodies  has  been 
awarded  but  once,  to  H.  A.  Newton,  of 
Yale,  for  his  researches  on  the  orbits  of 
meteors.  Appropriations  from  the  fund 
have  supplied  Yale  University  with  appa- 
ratus for  the  photography  of  meteors,  and 
provided  for  the  publication  of  a  catalogue 
of  meteorites,  for  their  chemical  analysis 
and  for  the  study  of  their  luminous  trains. 

The  Watson  Fund  has  aided  the  impor- 
tant work  of  Chandler  on  the  variation  of 
latitude,  and  that  of  Comstock  on  the  con- 
stant of  aberration,  in  addition  to  many 
other  important  grants.  Since  1901  the 
87 


income  has  been  very  effectively  used  by 
Leuschner  in  the  computation  of  the  per- 
turbations of  the  asteroids  discovered  by 
Watson.  The  Watson  Gold  Medal,  with 
one  hundred  dollars  in  gold,  has  been 
awarded  to  Gould,  Schonfeld,  Auwers, 
Chandler,  Gill  and  Kapteyn  for  their  as- 
tronomical investigations. 

In  view  of  its  national  charter,  the  high 
plane  of  its  membership,  and  its  special 
advantages  as  the  representative  of  the 
United  States  in  the  International  Associa- 
tion of  Academies,  the  National  Academy 
is  most  favorably  qualified  for  the  custody 
and  efficient  use  of  trust  funds.  Apprecia- 
tion of  this  fact,  amply  indicated  by  the 
above  list  of  gifts  and  bequests,  should 
grow  with  the  reputation  of  the  Academy. 
It  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  privilege  of 
securing  the  Academy's  aid  in  the  control 
and  disbursement  of  large  sums  for  the 
benefit  of  science  will  be  widely  sought  in 
the  future.  In  this  connection  attention 
should  be  called  to  the  present  lack  of 
medals  and  funds  especially  devoted  to 
the  recognition  and  aid  of  researches  in 
mathematics,  engineering,  geology  and  va- 
88 


rious  departments  of  biology  and  anthro- 
pology. 

COOPERATION  IN  RESEARCH 

As  an  agent  for  the  furtherance  of  co- 
operative research,  the  National  Academy 
occupies  a  unique  position  among  Ameri- 
can societies.  In  these  days  of  far-reach- 
ing investigations,  involving  the  common 
action  of  men  of  science  distributed 
throughout  the  world,  the  great  majority 
of  cooperative  projects  are  international 
in  character.  Here  the  peculiar  advantage 
of  the  Academy  appears.  The  Interna- 
tional Association  of  Academies  is  made 
up  of  the  national  academies  of  sixteen 
countries.  Each  academy  is  pledged  to 
support  only  such  cooperative  undertak- 
ings as  are  endorsed  by  the  association. 
Thus  the  constituent  members  of  this  body, 
through  their  delegates  at  its  triennial 
meetings,  are  most  favorably  placed  for 
the  initiation  and  furtherance  of  such  in- 
ternational movements. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  work  already 
undertaken  by  the  National  Academy  in 
this  field,  mention  may  be  made  of  the 
International  Union  for  Cooperation  in 
Solar  Eesearch.  In  1904,  the  Academy, 
89 


through  its  Committee  on  Solar  Research, 
invited  various  academies,  physical  and 
astronomical  societies,  and  other  organiza- 
tions interested  in  the  subject,  to  send  dele- 
gates to  a  conference,  with  a  view  to  the 
initiation  of  international  cooperation  in 
this  field.  Meetings  have  since  been  held 
at  Oxford  in  1905,  Paris  in  1907,  Mount 
Wilson  in  1910  and  Bonn  in  1913.  The 
constituent  societies,  each  of  which  is  rep- 
resented in  the  Union  by  a  standing  com- 
mittee, are  as  follows: 

The  Royal  Society  of  London,  the  Acad- 
emies of  Amsterdam,  Barcelona,  Berlin, 
Paris,  St.  Petersburg,  Stockholm  and 
Vienna,  the  Swiss  Society  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences, the  Astronomical  Societies  of  Lon- 
don, America,  France  and  Canada,  the 
Physical  Societies  of  Berlin,  Italy,  Spain, 
France  and  America,  the  Society  of  Italian 
Spectroscopists,  the  Solar  Physics  Com- 
mittee, the  Solar  Sub-committee  of  the  In- 
ternational Meteorological  Committee  and 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences. 

The  standards  of  wave-length  which  are 
being  established  by  the  Union,  as  the  re- 
sult of  extensive  cooperative  studies,  will 
be  used  universally  by  spectroscopists.  In- 
ternational committees,  appointed  by  the 
90 


Solar  Union,  are  studying  the  solar  rota- 
tion, the  spectra  of  sun-spots  and  the  in- 
tensity of  the  solar  radiation,  on  a  com- 
mon plan.  Spectroheliographs  are  also  in 
use,  for  the  almost  continuous  photography 
of  the  sun,  at  the  observatories  of  Kodai- 
kanal,  India;  Catania,  Sicily;  Potsdam, 
Germany;  Meudon,  France;  Tortosa, 
Spain;  Cambridge,  England;  Williams 
Bay,  Wisconsin;  Tacubaya,  Mexico;  and 
Mount  Wilson,  California. 

A  new  solar  observatory,  which  is  about 
to  be  established  in  New  Zealand  through 
the  generosity  of  Mr.  Thomas  Cawthron, 
will  fill  the  gap  in  longitude  between  Cali- 
fornia and  India,  and  thus  aid  in  keeping 
the  rapidly  changing  phenomena  of  the 
solar  atmosphere  constantly  under  obser- 
vation. At  the  Mount  Wilson  meeting  of 
the  Union,  it  was  decided  to  enlarge  its 
scope  so  as  to  include  the  whole  range  of 
astrophysics,  and  a  representative  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  report  on  the 
classification  of  stellar  spectra.  It  is  now 
evident  that  the  Solar  Union  is  destined  to 
play  an  increasingly  important  part  in  the 
field  of  international  research. 

The  Solar  Union  is  one  of  the  organiza- 
tions endorsed  by  the  International  As- 

91 


sociation  of  Academies,  to  which  it  makes 
regular  reports.  Another  of  the  interna- 
tional investigations  conducted  under  the 
auspices  of  the  association  is  that  of  the 
Brain  Commission,  the  American  Com- 
mittee of  which  is  also  closely  related  to 
the  National  Academy. 

The  Committee  on  International  Paleon- 
tologic  Correlation,  appointed  by  the  Acad- 
emy in  1908,  has  recently  completed  its 
work.  Aided  by  the  Bache  Fund,  the  com- 
mittee has  pushed  forward  the  important 
work  of  correlating  the  geologic  forma- 
tions of  Europe  and  America  on  the  basis 
of  their  paleontologic  contents.  The  re- 
sults have  been  published  in  a  series  of 
papers,  by  members  of  the  committee,  most 
of  which  treat  of  the  mammals  of  the  ter- 
tiary epoch  and  the  formations  which  con- 
tain them  in  North  America.  Marsh  and 
Cope  dealt  with  the  formation  of  the 
American  Eocene  as  units,  even  when  their 
thickness  ranged  from  1,000  to  2,000  feet 
These  formational  units  have  now  been 
split  up  into  sub-units,  or  life  zones, 
usually  distinguished  by  geologic  discon- 
tinuity. At  the  same  time  there  has  been 
a  marked  increase  in  the  precision  of  re- 
cording the  succession  of  species  in  certain 

92 


formations  which  contain  several  levels  of 
life  zones,  thus  permitting  exact  compari- 
sons with  other  life  zones  to  be  instituted. 
The  importance  of  such  work  is  obvious  in 
connection  with  the  trend  and  rate  of  de- 
velopment in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
the  possibility  of  geographic  intercourse  at 
certain  epochs,  and  the  cycles  of  physio- 
graphic and  climatic  change. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  Academy  is  in 
a  most  favorable  position  to  extend  its  oper- 
ations in  the  field  of  international  research, 
where  the  advantages  of  its  national  and 
representative  character  are  felt  to  the  full, 
and  the  disadvantages  of  its  scattered  mem- 
bership are  of  minor  importance. 

From  this  brief  survey  it  appears  that 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  in  spite 
of  many  obstacles,  has  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  development  of  American 
science.  The  time  is  now  favorable  for  an 
extension  of  its  work  into  new  fields,  which 
must  be  occupied  if  the  special  opportuni- 
ties and  obligations  implied  by  the  Acad- 
emy's national  charter  are  to  be  fully 
realized.  In  a  later  article  some  of  the 
possibilities  of  future  progress  will  be  con- 
sidered. 

93 


III.    THE     FUTURE     OF     THE     NA- 
TIONAL ACADEMY  OF 
SCIENCES1 

IN  previous  papers  of  this  series2  we 
have  traced  the  development  of  European 
academies  and  observed  the  powerful  in- 
fluence they  have  exercised  on  the  advance- 
ment of  research;  we  have  watched  the 
beginnings  of  scientific  investigation  in  the 

1  This  paper  was  presented  at  the  Baltimore 
meeting  of  the  National  Academy  in  November, 
1913.  By  action  of  the  council,  a  manuscript 
copy  was  subsequently  sent  by  the  home  secretary 
to  each  member  of  the  academy  for  criticism  and 
comment.  In  preparing  the  paper  for  publica- 
tion, the  author  has  had  the  advantage  of  seeing 
these  replies.  Except  for  a  few  minor  verbal 
changes,  the  text  is  printed  in  its  original  form, 
with  the  addition  of  new  paragraphs  in  square 
brackets. 

21.  "The  Work  of  European  Academies/' 
SCIENCE,  38,  681,  1913.  II.  "The  First  Half 
Century  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences," 
SCIENCE,  39,  189,  1914. 

94 


United  States,  and  their  public  recognition 
by  act  of  Congress  establishing  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences ;  and  we  have  followed 
the  history  of  the  Academy  during  the  half 
century  which  has  elapsed  since  its  origin. 
In  view  of  the  great  part  which  academies 
have  played  in  the  past,  and  the  fact  that 
the  rapid  development  of  original  research 
in  this  country  has  carried  us  out  of  the 
pioneer  period,  the  National  Academy  now 
faces  an  exceptional  opportunity  to  impress 
its  influence  upon  the  future  scientific 
work  of  the  United  States.  But  if  it  enjoys 
an  opportunity,  it  also  faces  a  duty,  im- 
posed upon  it  by  its  national  charter  and 
by  its  position  as  the  sole  representative  of 
America  in  the  International  Association 
of  Academies.  The  history  of  the  Acad- 
emy shows  that  it  has  taken  its  obligations 
seriously,  by  complying  with  requests  from 
the  executive  and  legislative  departments 
of  the  government  for  advice  on  scientific 
matters,  by  the  use  of  trust  funds  for  the 
advancement  of  research,  by  the  award  of 
prizes  and  grants  for  investigation,  by  the 
initiation  and  support  of  international  co- 
operation in  research,  and  by  such  other 
95 


means  as  its  limited  endowment  has  per- 
mitted. But  while  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
scientific  bureaus  of  the  government  has 
reduced  the  number  of  questions  which 
would  otherwise  be  submitted  to  the  Acad- 
emy, the  enormous  increase  in  the  wealth 
of  the  country,  and  the  expansion  of  its 
trade  relations  have  raised  new  problems 
and  advanced  new  opportunities.  These 
developments,  which  have  resulted  in  the 
multiplication  of  universities,  observatories 
and  laboratories,  and  the  foundation  of 
great  endowments  for  research,  place  the 
Academy  in  a  new  position,  and  impose  the 
question  whether  it  can  not  now  accomplish 
much  more  than  was  formerly  possible.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  open  the 
discussion  of  this  question,  in  the  hope  that 
its  further  consideration  by  other  members 
may  lead  to  an  extension  of  the  work  and 
usefulness  of  the  Academy. 

Fortunately  we  may  take  advantage  of 
the  rich  store  of  experience  accumulated 
by  the  European  academies  during  their 
long  histories.  In  seeking  to  adapt  this  to 
our  own  needs,  we  must  of  course  recognize 
the  special  conditions  existing  in  the  United 
States.  The  great  area  over  which  our 

96 


members  are  distributed  and  the  lack  of  any 
such  centralization  as  we  see  in  London  or 
in  Paris,  will  always  stand  in  the  way  of 
weekly  meetings  like  those  of  the  Royal 
Society  and  the  Paris  Academy.  But  if 
we  can  not  hope  to  see  our  leading  inves- 
tigators personally  demonstrate  each  step 
in  their  progress  before  academic  audi- 
ences, as  Faraday  and  Pasteur  and  many 
another  have  done  abroad,  we  can  never- 
theless provide  for  lectures  and  papers 
illustrated  by  experiments  in  connection 
with  the  semi-annual  meetings  of  the  Acad- 
emy, and  possibly  for  others  of  a  public 
character,  extending  throughout  the  year, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Royal  Institution 
of  London.  {The  disadvantage  of  our  mem- 
bers in  being  unable  to  read  accounts  of 
their  latest  advances  before  weekly  meet- 
ings of  their  colleagues  can  also  be  largely 
offset  by  the  publication  of  Proceedings, 
in  which  the  first  results  of  all  new  work 
may  be  adequately  presented.  Thus, 
though  we  lack  some  of  the  advantages  of 
centralization,  these  may  be  largely  over- 
come, while  retaining  the  very  great  ad- 
vantage of  a  widely  distributed  membership 
97 


representing  the  scientific  interests  of  every 
section  of  the  country. 

FUNCTIONS   OF   A  NATIONAL   ACADEMY 

The  criticism  has  sometimes  been  directed 
against  academies  covering  the  whole  range 
of  knowledge  that  their  place  has  been 
sufficiently  filled  by  the  special  societies 
devoted  to  particular  branches  of  science. 
For  more  than  a  century  the  Royal  Society 
and  the  Paris  Academy  served  all  the  pur- 
poses of  science  in  Great  Britain  and 
France,  but  toward  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  special  societies  began  to 
develop  in  England.  The  establishment  of 
the  Linnean  Society  in  1788  did  not  appear 
to  give  special  concern  to  the  members  of 
the  Royal  Society.  But  when  the  Geolog- 
ical Society  was  instituted  in  1807,  Sir 
Joseph  Banks,  then  President  of  the  Royal 
Society,  united  with  Sir  Humphry  Davy 
and  others  in  a  strenuous  attempt  to  amal- 
gamate it  with  the  parent  body.  The  Royal 
Astronomical  Society  was  established  in 
1820,  partly  as  the  result  of  the  accumula- 
tion of  valuable  observations  too  extensive 
for  the  Royal  Society  to  publish.  Sir 
Joseph,  though  he  had  himself  aided  in  the 

98 


establishment  of  the  Linnean  Society,  was 
greatly  perturbed  at  this  further  develop- 
ment. A  short  time  later  he  died  in  the 
belief  that  the  special  societies  had  struck 
a  severe  blow  at  the  respectability  and  use- 
fulness of  the  Royal  Society,  by  robbing  it 
of  many  of  its  members  and  laying  claim  to 
some  of  its  most  important  departments.3 
But  his  fears  were  wholly  unwarranted, 
and  the  special  societies  continued  to  grow 
and  multiply,  to  the  advantage  of  science 
and  of  the  Royal  Society  itself.  Their  ex- 
tensive publications  have  not  detracted  from 
the  volume  or  the  quality  of  the  Philosoph- 
ical Transactions  and  the  Proceedings,  and 
each  of  these  societies,  by  contributing  to 
the  development  of  some  special  field,  has 
helped  to  build  up  that  great  organization 
of  British  science  of  which  the  Royal  Soci- 
ety is  the  acknowledged  and  venerated  head. 
These  details  will  not  be  out  of  place  if 
they  help  to  emphasize  a  principle  which 
should  always  be  respected  in  the  work  of 
the  National  Academy.  The  societies  and 
journals  which  have  been  established  to 

3  Barrow,  ' '  Sketches  of  the  Koyal  Society, ' ' 
pp.  10,  256;  Weld,  "History  of  the  Eoyal  So- 
ciety, "  pp.  242,  246. 

99 


meet  the  needs  of  scientific  progress  have 
come  to  stay.  It  is  neither  necessary  nor 
in  any  way  desirable  to  usurp  their  func- 
tions, which  are  the  result  of  a  natural 
process  of  evolution.  There  is  ample  room, 
however,  for  academies  devoted  to  the 
whole  range  of  science.  The  rapid  advance 
of  research  in  a  thousand  ramifying  fields 
has  left  much  intermediate  territory  un- 
explored. The  approach  to  these  undevel- 
oped regions  may  be  made  from  more  than 
one  direction,  and  through  the  aid  of  more 
than  one  method.  Thus  nothing  can  be 
more  stimulating  to  the  progress  of  re- 
search than  an  acquaintance  with  the  in- 
vestigations and  processes  which  are  con- 
stantly being  developed  in  fields  other  than 
one's  own.  Mathematics  has  received  its 
principal  impulses  from  astronomy  and 
physics.  Physical  chemistry  is  indebted, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  Pfeffer  the  botanist  for 
the  study  of  vegetable  cells,  and  on  the 
other  to  the  mathematical  and  physical  in- 
vestigations of  Willard  Gibbs,  Van  der 
Waals  and  Arrhenius.  Astrophysics  came 
into  existence  through  the  use  in  astronomy 
of  the  spectroscope  and  other  physical  in- 
struments. Every  department  of  science 
100 


sheds  a  luster  which  should  illuminate,  not 
only  its  particular  territories,  but  others, 
near  and  far,  occupied  by  other  workers. 
The  importance  of  recognizing  and  utiliz- 
ing this  fact  must  therefore  increase  as  time 
goes  on. 

[It  has  been  truly  said  that  an  academy 
can  hope  to  accomplish  large  results  only 
as  it  succeeds  in  meeting  the  conditions  of 
the  present  rather  than  those  of  the  past. 
What  are  existing  conditions  in  science? 
Surely  none  is  more  striking  than  the  con- 
traction of  the  field  of  the  average  inves- 
tigator. Specialization  is  inevitable  in  the 
maze  of  modern  progress,  and  the  narrow- 
ing effect  of  constant  devotion  to  a  single 
subject  must  become  still  more  apparent 
as  science  ramifies  further.  A  general 
academy,  by  insisting  on  the  importance  of 
large  relationships,  by  demonstrating  the 
unity  of  knowledge,  by  recognizing  the  fact 
that  fundamental  methods  of  research, 
wherever  developed,  are  likely  to  be  appli- 
cable in  more  than  one  department,  can  do 
much  to  broaden  and  to  stimulate  its  mem- 
bers. The  correlation  of  research  should 
be  counted  as  one  of  its  prime  objects,  and 
101 


its  energies  should  be  largely  directed  to 
this  important  end.] 

We  are  thus  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  functions  of  a  National  Academy  should 
be  of  the  broadest  character,  and  that  the 
advantage  of  sharing  in  the  results  of  all 
its  departments  should  belong  to  every 
member.  Thus  the  policy  of  our  National 
Academy  of  avoiding  division  into  separate 
sections,4  and  of  bringing  papers  on  the 
most  diverse  subjects  before  the  entire  body, 
is  fundamentally  sound  and  should  be 
maintained.  Later  in  this  paper  the  ques- 
tion will  be  considered  whether  the  range 
of  the  Academy's  activities  should  be  ex- 
tended so  as  to  give  increased  recognition 
to  departments  of  knowledge  other  than  the 
physical  and  natural  sciences. 

Under  the  conditions  now  existing  in  the 
United  States,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  functions  of  the  National  Academy 
might  well  be  multiplied  so  as  to  meet  a 
wide  variety  of  needs.  It  should  stand, 
first  of  all,  as  a  leading  source  and  sup- 
porter of  original  research  and  as  the  na- 
tional representative  of  the  great  body  of 
American  investigators  in  science.  To  the 

*  Except  for  voting  purposes. 
102 


government  it  should  make  itself  necessary 
by  the  high  standard  of  its  work,  the  broad 
range  of  its  endeavors,  and  the  sane  and 
scientific  spirit  underlying  all  of  its  actions. 
To  its  members  it  should  offer  stimulus  and 
encouragement  in  their  investigations ;  due 
recognition  of  their  advances;  financial 
assistance  and  the  use  of  instruments  at 
critical  periods  in  their  work;  the  advan- 
tage of  listening  to  papers  ranging  over  the 
whole  field  of  science,  bearing  suggestions 
of  principles  or  methods  likely  to  develop 
new  ideas ;  contact  with  the  greatest  leaders 
of  research  from  all  countries  and  oppor- 
tunities to  listen  to  descriptions  of  their 
work ;  access  to  books  and  manuscripts  not 
easily  obtainable  from  other  sources;  and 
participation  in  international  cooperative 
projects  in  eveiy  field  of  investigation.  In 
the  public  mind  it  should  rank  as  the  na- 
tional exponent  of  science,  and  as  the 
agency  best  qualified  to  bring  forward  and 
illustrate  the  latest  advances  of  its  own 
members  and  of  the  scientific  world  at 
large.  To  representatives  of  manufactures 
and  industries,  the  Academy  should  serve 
to  promote  the  appreciation  and  widespread 
use  of  the  scientific  principles  and  methods 
103 


which  have  built  up  the  great  industrial 
prosperity  of  Germany.  With  other  soci- 
eties devoted  to  various  branches  of  science, 
it  should  cooperate  in  harmony  with  the 
best  interests  of  American  research.  To- 
ward local  bodies  for  the  encouragement 
of  investigation  and  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge, it  should  act  as  an  inspiring  example 
and  a  reliable  source  of  support.  And  in 
the  broad  field  of  international  cooperation, 
it  should  unite  with  the  leading  academies 
of  the  world  in  the  endeavor  to  perfect  the 
organization  of  research  and  in  the  use  of 
all  agencies  contributing  to  its  advance- 
ment. 

NEEDS    OF    THE    ACADEMY 

Many  of  these  objects  have  been  accom- 
plished by  the  National  Academy  in  the 
past,  but  others  remain  for  the  future.  The 
greatest  aid  in  accomplishing  its  full  work 
would  be  met  by  the  provision  of  a  suitable 
academy  building,  and  an  endowment  suffi- 
cient to  publish  Proceedings,  conduct  re- 
search, provide  public  lectures,  maintain 
exhibits  illustrating  current  investigations, 
and  to  meet  such  additional  needs  as  are 
implied  by  the  Academy's  national  charter 
104 


and  its  obligations  to  the  scientific  world 
and  the  general  public.  Through  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  ex- 
tended in  the  year  of  the  academy 's  organi- 
zation, the  annual  meetings  are  held  in  the 
National  Museum,  in  rooms  ordinarily  em- 
ployed for  other  purposes.  Thus  the  Acad- 
emy does  not  even  possess  a  permanent 
office,  or  a  room  for  its  library,  which  will 
be  needed  in  the  future  for  its  work  of  re- 
search. It  has  therefore  been  compelled 
from  the  outset  to  decline  many  offers  of 
books,  and  thus  a  large  and  valuable  collec- 
tion, comprising  publications  offered  by 
many  of  the  great  academies,  laboratories 
and  observatories  of  the  world,  has  been 
lost.5 

It  is  difficult  to  overestimate  the  value  of 
a  suitable  building  in  commanding  public 
appreciation  and  support  for  any  institu- 
tion. Visible  evidence  of  the  Academy's 
existence  is  a  matter  of  no  small  impor- 
tance, when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
average  American  citizen,  though  well- 
acquainted  with  the  name  of  the  Paris 

5  The    Academy    has    accepted    some    gifts    of 
books,  which  are  packed  away   (unbound)   in  the 
storerooms  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
105 


Academy  through  press  reports  of  dis- 
coveries announced  there,  has  never  heard 
of  our  own  national  organization.  But 
a  building  used  as  a  storehouse  and  occu- 
pied but  once  a  year  is  not  enough.  The 
Academy  must  be  known  as  a  living  and 
active  body,  which  recognizes  and  fulfills 
its  many  duties  to  science  and  the  public. 
If  its  headquarters  were  constantly  em- 
ployed for  such  purposes  as  are  enumerated 
later,  the  Academy  would  soon  be  looked 
upon  as  the  natural  source  of  information 
regarding  the  latest  developments  of  sci- 
ence, and  more  generally  recognized  as  the 
national  representative  of  American  re- 
search. 

IMPORTANCE   OF    PUBLISHING   PROCEEDINGS 

As  explained  in  a  previous  paper,  the 
name  of  the  National  Academy  has  never 
been  associated  with  the  work  of  its  mem- 
bers, since  the  papers  read  at  its  meetings 
have  not  been  published  by  the  Academy. 
Thus  it  has  not  been  sufficiently  identified 
with  the  progress  of  American  research, 
and  the  chief  source  of  the  reputation  of 
the  Paris  Academy  and  the  Royal  Society 
has  been  lacking.  But  though  the  Academy 
106 


would  become  more  widely  known  by  the 
publication  of  Proceedings,  it  would  be 
foolish  to  take  such  a  step  merely  to  accom- 
plish this  purpose.  The  establishment  of 
a  new  journal,  in  these  days  when  the  litera- 
ture of  science  has  become  exceedingly  com- 
plex, should  never  be  undertaken  without  ' 
serious  consideration  of  its  probable  use- 
fulness. If  it  fulfills  no  good  and  lasting 
purpose,  its  life  will  be  deservedly  short. 
Hence  we  may  not  imitate  the  example  of 
societies  which  established  their  publica- 
tions before  the  special  journals  had  taken 
the  field.  We  must  recognize,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  various  journals  devoted  to 
particular  branches  of  science  meet  a 
clearly  defined  need  and  should  not  be 
rivaled,  even  to  the  apparent  advantage  of 
the  Academy.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must 
also  remember  that  the  members  of  the 
Academy  have  adopted  a  regular  plan  of 
publication,  the  interruption  of  which 
might  interfere  with  the  accessibility  of 
their  papers.  Thus,  if  Proceedings  are  to 
be  established,  they  should  be  so  planned 
as  to  serve  a  useful  scientific  end  and  be 
distinctly  advantageous,  not  merely  to  the 
Academy  itself,  but  to  all  of  its  members. 
107 


I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  no 
step  which  can  be  taken  at  the  present  time 
would  be  so  beneficial  to  the  National  Acad- 
emy as  the  publication  of  Proceedings  con- 
taining the  first  announcements  of  impor- 
tant advances  and  the  chief  results  of 
American  research.  I  believe,  further- 
more, that  this  can  be  done  in  such  a 
way  as  to  benefit  the  members  and  con- 
tribute to  the  advancement  of  science.  In 
many  departments  of  the  Academy's  work 
papers  published  in  the  special  American 
journals  of  limited  foreign  circulation  do 
not  reach  a  sufficiently  large  group  of 
European  readers.  I  am  told  that  this  is 
particularly  true  in  biology,  where  Amer- 
ican investigators  are  producing  a  great 
body  of  results  of  the  first  importance. 
Thus  the  Proceedings  of  the  Academy,  if 
properly  distributed,  might  be  made  to 
serve  the  very  useful  purpose  of  bringing 
the  work  of  a  large  number  of  investigators 
to  the  attention  of  scholars  abroad.  But 
in  order  to  preserve  all  interests,  and  to 
interfere  in  the  least  degree  with  present 
plans  of  publication,  the  Proceedings 
should  not  be  designed  to  occupy  such  a 
place  as  the  special  journals  adequately  fill. 
108 


[The  chief  advantage  of  the  Proceedings 
would  not  be  the  same  in  all  departments  of 
science.  In  mathematics,  where  the  exist- 
ing journals  are  greatly  overcrowded, 
prompt  publication  of  the  condensed  re- 
sults of  new  research  would  be  heartily  wel- 
comed. The  same  thing  is  true  in  botany 
and  in  many  other  subjects.  In  fact,  im- 
proved means  of  prompt  publication  would 
be  generally  appreciated  by  Academy  mem- 
bers. In  biology,  as  already  remarked,  the 
great  number  of  special  journals  prevents 
many  of  them  from  reaching  European 
laboratories,  where  American  research  is 
frequently  overlooked  as  a  consequence. 
In  astronomy  and  astrophysics,  which  have 
fewer  journals,  the  circulation  of  the  chief 
American  journals  is  large,  and  their  con- 
tents reach  all  astronomers  abroad.  But 
the  practise  of  publishing  separate  series 
of  circulars  or  bulletins,  which  has  been 
adopted  by  many  American  observatories, 
confines  the  circulation  of  their  papers  to 
the  limited  number  of  astronomers  and  ob- 
servatories on  their  mailing  lists.  If  brief 
accounts  of  the  broader  aspects  of  these  in- 
vestigations were  printed  by  the  Academy, 
they  would  be  useful  to  astronomers  making 

109 


a  general  survey  of  progress  in  their  own 
field.  But  they  would  be  even  more  service- 
able to  the  mathematician,  physicist, 
meteorologist,  chemist,  geologist  or  other 
investigator  who  may  find  information  of 
direct  or  suggestive  value  in  the  results  of 
astronomical  research.  Conversely,  even 
those  astronomers  who  keep  in  touch  with 
progress  in  mathematics  or  physics  can  not 
also  examine  the  numerous  journals  of 
chemistry,  geology  and  other  subjects  which 
contain  results  applicable  in  their  own 
work.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Acad- 
emy could  perform  an  important  service  in 
its  special  province  of  correlating  knowl- 
edge by  publishing  papers  covering  the 
whole  range  of  science. 

The  value  of  the  Proceedings  in  strength- 
ening the  position  of  American  science  at 
home  and  abroad  should  not  be  overlooked. 
The  rapid  progress  of  American  research 
in  a  single  field  may  be  known  to  the  Euro- 
pean specialist,  but  he  may  not  realize  that 
similar  advances  in  other  departments  have 
raised  American  science  to  a  new  level. 
Recognition  of  this  fact  is  desirable,  not 
for  the  gratification  of  national  pride,  but 
because  the  international  influence  of 

110 


America  in  science  will  grow  with  its  pres- 
tige. The  combination  of  effort  which  the 
Proceedings  would  represent,  and  the  dem- 
onstration they  would  afford  of  American 
activity  in  research,  are  factors  of  real 
significance  in  securing  that  recognition 
and  standing,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
which  is  needed  to  accelerate  future  prog- 
ress.] 

To  accomplish  the  desired  result,  it  would 
seem  that  the  Proceedings  should  be  inter- 
mediate in  character  between  the  Comptes 
Eendus  of  the  Paris  Academy  and  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Royal  Society.  Papers  read 
before  the  Paris  Academy  on  Monday  are 
printed  and  issued  in  the  Comptes  Eendus 
on  the  following  Saturday — a  record  for 
speed  which  we  should  not  expect  to  rival. 
Such  accelerated  publication,  while  it 
doubtless  possesses  certain  advantages, 
renders  impossible  that  more  leisurely 
editorial  examination  which  most  journals 
demand.  The  Proceedings  of  the  Royal 
Society,  on  the  other  hand,  appear  at  irreg- 
ular intervals,  and  frequently  contain  long 
and  detailed  papers,  which  with  us  might 
better  find  a  place  in  the  special  journals. 
In  the  case  of  the  National  Academy  it  is 
ill 


doubtful  whether  publication  at  shorter 
intervals  than  one  month  is  necessary,  but 
the  possible  advantages  of  fortnightly  pub- 
lication should  be  carefully  considered. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  papers  for  the 
Proceedings,  while  comparatively  brief  (per- 
haps averaging  from  three  to  five  pages), 
should  not  be  hasty  announcements  based 
on  inadequate  data.  On  the  contrary,  the 
dignity  of  the  National  Academy  and  the 
best  interests  of  its  members  demand  that 
only  carefully  matured  conclusions,  re- 
sulting from  prolonged  observational  or 
theoretical  research,  should  appear  under 
the  Academy's  imprint.  Measures  and 
other  exact  data  needed  to  establish  these 
conclusions  would  be  a  necessary  part  of 
such  papers,  though  long  numerical  tables, 
profuse  illustrations,  and  detailed  accounts 
of  minor  topics  should  be  reserved  for  pub- 
lication in  the  special  journals,  to  which 
members  would  continue  to  contribute  as 
before.  The  Academy  Proceedings  would 
thus  serve  for  the  first  announcement  of 
discoveries  and  of  the  more  important  con- 
tributions to  research,  illustrated  by  line 
cuts  'and  occasional  halftones  in  the  text, 
when  essential  to  clearness,  but  free  from 


unnecessary  detail  and  extensive  numerical 
data.  Non-members,  as  well  as  members, 
should  be  invited  to  contribute,  with  the 
understanding  that  their  papers  are  to  be 
presented  by  a  member  of  the  Academy,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Paris  Academy  and  the 
Eoyal  Society.6 

The  constitution  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy already  provides  for  the  issue  of  Pro- 
ceedings, as  well  as  Memoirs  and  Annual 
Reports.  In  fact,  as  explained  in  a  previ- 
ous paper,  three  numbers  of  Proceedings 
were  published,  though  they  did  not  contain 
papers  presented  to  the  Academy.  There  is 

6  The  Proceedings  should  be  so  planned  as  to 
interfere   in   the   least   possible   degree   with   the 
Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
which  is  a  publication  similar  in  character  to  the 
one   here  proposed.     As   the  Journal   is   devoted 
mainly  to  work  done  in  Washington,  or  presented 
before    the   various    Washington    societies    (other 
than  the  National  Academy),  no  important  over- 
lapping of  the  two  publications  need  be  antici- 
pated,  especially   as   members   of   this   Academy 
have  rarely  contributed  to  the  Journal. 

7  [The  Academy  voted,  at  its  meeting  of  No- 
vember,  1913,  to  begin  the  publication   of  Pro- 
ceedings as  soon  as  arrangements  could  be  per- 
fected.    The  first  number  will  appear  in  January, 
1915.] 

113 


therefore  no  need  of  any  radical  departure 
requiring  amendment  of  the  constitution. 
In  other  words,  if  sufficient  funds  are 
available,  this  very  important  step  toward 
the  development  of  the  Academy  can  be 
taken  by  simple  affirmative  vote.7 

The  annual  volumes  of  the  Proceedings, 
bringing  together  for  the  first  time  the  best 
product  of  American  research,  would  place 
the  Academy  in  a  clearer  light  before  the 
academic  world.  Annual  Reports  and 
infrequent  volumes  of  Memoirs  receive 
scant  attention,  except  from  a  few  special- 
ists, in  the  libraries  of  our  contemporary 
societies.  But  the  Proceedings,  published 
at  regular  intervals,  and  containing  a  stand- 
ing notice  of  the  Academy's  publications, 
would  aid  in  making  them  better  known. 
The  quarto  Memoirs,  eleven  volumes  of 
which  have  already  appeared,  afford  an  ex- 
cellent place  for  extended  publication, 
when  the  necessity  for  lengthy  tables,  nu- 
merous plates,  or  long  discussions  of  data 
places  the  manuscript  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  special  journals.  The  publication  of 
the  Proceedings  might  serve  to  disclose 
much  material  worthy  of  use  in  the  Me- 
moirs, and  the  editorial  board  should  be 
114 


constantly  on  the  watch  for  opportunities 
to  extend  the  Memoirs  and  to  render  them 
more  serviceable  to  science. 

SCIENCE  AND  THE  PUBLIC 

The  circulation  of  the  Proceedings  would 
necessarily  be  limited  to  scholars  and  schol- 
arly institutions — they  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  reach  the  general  public.  Here 
a  difficulty  remains  to  be  overcome,  since 
the  results  of  original  investigations  should 
certainly  be  made  more  generally  known 
and  more  clearly  understood  than  they  are 
at  the  present  time.  The  average  man  of 
science,  after  sad  experience  with  the  daily 
press,  is  usually  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  newspaper  publication  is  synonymous 
with  rank  sensationalism.  Eepeatedly  told, 
and  not  without  justice,  that  his  cloistered 
wisdom  should  reach  a  wider  world,  he 
sometimes  yields  to  the  persistent  demands 
of  a  reporter.  The  outcome  is  too  well 
known  to  require  telling.  Even  in  the  case 
of  a  really  intelligent  and  conscientious  re- 
porter, who  does  not  distort  or  exaggerate, 
the  "headline  man"  may  be  depended 
upon  to  provide  a  grotesque  disguise.  A 
few  experiences  of  this  sort  suffice  for  most 
115 


investigators.  They  are  soon  forced  to  shut 
out  the  reporter,  and  are  well  pleased  when 
they  succeed.  Yet  they  recognize  that  the 
exclusion  of  the  public  from  all  contact 
with  their  work  is  neither  fair  nor  desirable. 
Some  way  should  be  found  of  bridging  the 
gap. 

A  plan  followed  in  England  by  the  Royal 
Society,  of  circulating  brief  abstracts  on 
the  day  when  a  paper  is  read,  which  are 
afterwards  published  in  Nature  (sometimes 
in  condensed  form) ,  is  one  which  we  might 
advantageously  imitate.  When  a  paper  is 
accepted  by  the  editorial  board  for  pub- 
lication in  the  Proceedings,  a  brief  ab- 
stract, preferably  prepared  by  the  author, 
should  be  sent  to  SCIENCE  (and  perhaps 
also  to  Nature).  At  the  same  time  this 
abstract,  or  a  briefer  one  in  less  technical 
language,  might  be  communicated  to  the 
Associated  Press.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  papers  for  the  Proceedings  would 
differ  widely  in  their  availability  for  pop- 
ular treatment.  Probably  only  a  compara- 
tively small  proportion  of  them  would  con- 
tain results  suitable  for  use  by  the  Asso- 
ciated Press,  but  all  would  doubtless  be 
published  in  abstract  by  SCIENCE. 

116 


Through  the  Associated  Press,  and  also 
through  certain  conservative  newspapers 
and  magazines,  the  Academy  could  thus 
bring  before  the  public  the  actual  results 
of  scientific  research,  as  distinguished  from 
the  false  and  distorted  conceptions  of  sci- 
ence which  most  of  our  newspapers  now 
disseminate. 

LECTURES  ON  RESEARCH 

The  plan  of  publication  outlined  above 
is  but  one  of  several  methods  by  which  the 
Academy  may  enlarge  its  usefulness.  Pub- 
lic lectures  should  also  be  instituted,  pri- 
marily for  the  benefit  of  the  Academy  mem- 
bers, but  also  with  the  expectation  of 
reaching  a  larger  circle.  Here  the  Academy 
would  do  well  to  study  and  imitate  the 
Eoyal  Institution  of  London,  where  original 
research  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
are  combined  in  a  very  effective  manner. 
In  brilliant  addresses,  illustrated  by  lan- 
tern slides  and  experiments,  a  long  line  of 
illustrious  speakers,  best  typified  by  Fara- 
day, have  charmed  and  enlightened  the 
most  distinguished  audiences.  Many  of 
these  speakers,  including  Davy,  Faraday, 
Tyndall,  Dewar,  Rayleigh  and  Thomson, 
117 


have  been  drawn  from  the  staff  of  the 
Royal  Institution.  But  their  English  con- 
temporaries, as  well  as  scientific  men  from 
all  parts  of  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
have  also  been  invited  to  describe  their 
latest  advances.  The  speaker  at  a  "Friday 
Evening  Discourse ' '  is  faced  by  the  leaders 
of  English  thought  and  action  in  many 
fields.  Privileged  to  select  from  the  large 
collection  of  historic  instruments  accumu- 
lated during  a  century,  and  even  to  illus- 
trate his  points  with  the  apparatus  of  Fara- 
day himself,  he  feels  an  inspiration  that 
no  other  platform  affords.  In  such  an 
atmosphere  he  learns  to  appreciate  the  dig- 
nity of  popular  science  at  its  best,  and  to 
perceive  how  the  busiest  and  most  success- 
ful of  present-day  physicists  can  find  time 
to  deliver  elaborate  courses  of  Christmas 
lectures  to  a  juvenile  audience.  These  lec- 
tures, instituted  by  Faraday,  are  now  in 
their  eighty-seventh  season.  Under  such 
topics  as  "The  Chemistry  of  Flame"  they 
have  afforded  him  and  his  followers  an  op- 
portunity to  show  how  simply  and  beauti- 
fully the  principles  of  science  can  be  made 
to  appeal  even  to  young  children.8  The 
8  The  last  course  of  Christmas  Juvenile  Lec- 
118 


art  of  the  popular  lecture  should  be  devel- 
oped in  the  United  States  by  the  National 
Academy.  Under  its  auspices,  and  with 
the  example  of  the  Royal  Institution  be- 
hind him,  the  lecturer  need  not  fear  for 
his  dignity.  The  Academy  would  soon  find 
its  reward  in  the  increasing  appreciation 
of  its  work  and  purposes,  the  spread  of 
scientific  knowledge,  and  ultimately  in 
larger  endowments  for  research. 

As  a  first  step  in  this  direction,  the  chil- 
dren of  the  late  William  Ellery  Hale  have 
established  a  course  of  lectures  in  memory 
of  their  father.  Their  object  in  doing  so 
is  twofold.  In  the  first  place,  if  is  hoped 
that  the  lectures  may  add  to  the  attractive- 
ness of  the  Academy  meetings,  both  to  the 
members  and  the  public.  Again,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  by  a  suitable  choice  of  lecturers 
and  topics,  the  inter-relationship  of  the 
various  fields  of  research  represented  in 
the  Academy,  and  the  light  thrown  by  the 
methods  of  investigation  or  of  interpreta- 
tion employed  in  one  field  upon  those  of 
another,  may  be  illustrated  in  an  effective 

tures,     on     "  Alchemy, "     « Atoms,"     "  Light," 
"Clouds,"  "Meteorites"  and  "Frozen  Worlds," 
was  given  by  Sir  James  Dewar. 
119 


way.  Moreover,  the  lectures  will  afford  an 
opportunity  of  testing  whether  the  Academy 
may  not  further  assist  in  increasing  public 
appreciation  of  the  cultural  and  the  indus- 
trial value  of  science. 

SCIENCE  IN   EDUCATION 

In  the  Academy  of  Plato  and  the  Alex- 
andrian Museum  the  functions  of  an  acad- 
emy and  a  university  were  united,  and  the 
work  of  instruction  went  hand  in  hand  with 
the  development  of  new  knowledge.  The 
growth  of  the  modern  university  has  now 
removed  from  national  academies  their 
former  work  of  teaching  a  body  of  students, 
but  their  opportunity  to  exert  a  favorable 
influence  on  the  educational  methods  of 
the  nation  remains.  The  Institute  of 
France,  as  planned  by  Talleyrand  and  Con- 
dorcet,9  was  to  control  public  instruction 
and  offer  courses  to  advanced  students. 
This  was  not  carried  out,  but  an  instance 
of  the  same  sort  is  afforded  by  the  Acad- 
emy of  Munich,  which  has  charge  of  the 
public  instruction  of  Bavaria. 

9  See  Hippeau,  ' '  L  'instruction  publique  en 
France  pendant  la  revolution,"  Vol.  1,  pp.  115, 
228. 

120 


There  is  no  apparent  reason  why  our  own 
National  Academy  should  have  a  formal 
connection  with  educational  institutions. 
But  in  harmony  with  its  purpose  to  advance 
knowledge  in  the  United  States,  it  should 
contribute  toward  the  development  of  the 
science  of  education  and  take  advantage  of 
the  possibility  of  increasing  public  appre- 
ciation of  the  educational  value  of  science. 

In  a  presidential  address  which  excited 
great  public  interest  in  England,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Huggins  emphasized  before  the  Royal 
Society  the  importance  of  science  in  educa- 
tion.10 We  need  not  dwell  upon  his  argu- 
ments regarding  the  value  of  scientific 
training  in  developing  the  power  of  accu- 
rate observation  and  the  habit  of  correct 
and  cautious  reasoning.  But  a  more 
neglected  phase  of  science  in  education — 
its  power  of  awakening  and  expanding  the 
imaginative  faculty — may  be  referred  to  in 
his  own  words: 

Surely  the  master-creations  of  poetry,  music, 
sculpture  and  painting,  alike  in  mystery  and 
grandeur,  can  not  surpass  the  natural  epics  and 
scenes  of  the  heavens  above  and  of  the  earth  be- 
neath, in  their  power  of  firing  the  imagination, 

10  Huggins,  "The  Royal  Society,"  p.  109. 
121 


which  indeed  has  taken  its  most  daring  and  en- 
during flights  under  the  earlier  and  simpler  con- 
ditions of  human  life,  when  men  lived  in  closer 
contact  with  Nature,  and  in  greater  quiet,  free 
from  the  deadening  rush  of  modern  society.  Of 
supreme  value  is  the  exercise  of  the  imagination, 
that  lofty  faculty  of  creating  and  weaving 
imagery  in  the  mind,  and  of  giving  subjective 
reality  to  its  own  creations,  which  is  the  source  of 
the  initial  impulses  to  human  progress  and  de- 
velopment, to  all  inspiration  in  the  arts,  and  to 
discovery  in  science. 

Of  all  the  teachings  of  science,  the  prin- 
ciple of  evolution  makes  by  far  the  strong- 
est appeal  to  the  imagination.  Isolated 
phenomena,  however  remarkable,  acquire 
a  new  meaning  when  seen  in  its  light. 
Minute  details  of  structure  in  animals  or 
plants,  slight  differences  of  the  relative 
intensity  of  lines  in  the  spectra  of  stars, 
may  become  of  intense  interest  even  to  the 
elementary  student  if  explained  as  steps 
in  a  great  process  of  development.  But 
after  all  that  has  been  said  and  written 
since  the  time  of  Darwin,  we  fail  to  take 
full  advantage  of  our  opportunity.  Prop- 
erly presented,  a  picture  of  evolution  in  its 
broadest  aspects  would  serve  better  than  any 
other  agency  to  stimulate  the  imagination, 

122 


to  awaken  interest  in  science,  and  to  demon- 
strate that  its  cultural  value  is  in  no  wise 
inferior  to  that  of  the  humanities.  To  the 
average  student,  even  physics  and  chemis- 
try are  distinct  branches  of  science,  each 
occupied  with  its  own  problems.  Astron- 
omy, he  knows,  concerns  itself  with  the 
heavenly  bodies,  botany  with  plants,  zool- 
ogy with  animals.  But  if  he  studies  these 
subjects  at  all,  he  almost  invariably  fails 
to  realize  their  relationship,  because  no 
binding  principle,  like  that  of  evolution,  is 
brought  prominently  to  his  attention  or,  at 
the  best,  is  restricted  in  its  application  to 
some  single  organic  or  inorganic  field. 

When  Humboldt  wrote  "Cosmos"  and 
Huxley  lectured  on  "A  Piece  of  Chalk" 
and  other  subjects,  they  showed  what  might 
be  accomplished  in  picturing  the  problems 
of  science  in  a  broad  way.  The  National 
Academy  is  better  qualified  than  any  other 
body  in  America  to  demonstrate  what  can 
be  done  in  the  same  direction  with  the  rich 
store  of  knowledge  acquired  since  their  time. 
A  course  of  lectures  on  evolution,  beginning 
with  an  account  of  the  constitution  of  mat- 
ter, the  transformation  of  the  elements, 
and  the  electron  theory ;  picturing  the  heav- 
123 


enly  bodies  and  the  structure  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  evolution  of  stars  and  planets, 
and  the  origin  of  the  earth;  outlining  the 
various  stages  of  the  earth's  history,  the 
formation  and  changes  of  its  surface  fea- 
tures, the  beginning  and  development  of 
plant  and  animal  life;  explaining  modern 
biological  problems,  the  study  of  variation 
and  mutation,  and  the  various  theories  of 
organic  evolution ;  summarizing  our  knowl- 
edge of  earliest  man,  his  first  differentiation 
from  anthropoid  ancestors,  and  the  crude 
origins  of  civilization ;  and  connecting  with 
our  own  day  by  an  account  of  early  Orien- 
tal peoples,  the  rise  of  the  Egyptian  dy- 
nasties, and  their  influence  on  modern 
progress:  such  a  course,  free  from  techni- 
calities and  unnecessary  details,  richly 
illustrated  by  lantern  slides  and  experi- 
ments, and  woven  together  into  a  clear 
and  homogeneous  whole,  would  serve  to 
give  the  average  student  a  far  broader  view 
of  evolution  than  he  now  obtains,  and  leave 
no  doubt  in  the  hearer's  mind  as  to  the  cul- 
tural and  imaginative  value  of  science. 

The  William  Ellery  Hale  lectures  will 
open  with  a  series  on  evolution,  so  designed 
as  to  be  of  interest  to  members  of  the  Acad- 
124 


emy,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  intelligible 
and  attractive  to  the  public.  At  each 
meeting  two  lectures  will  be  given  by  a 
distinguished  European  or  American  inves- 
tigator, chosen  because  of  his  competence  to 
deal  with  some  branch  of  the  subject.  The 
first  course  of  lectures,  to  be  given  by  Sir 
Ernest  Rutherford  at  the  annual  meeting 
in  April,  1914,  will  deal  with  the  consti- 
tution of  matter  and  the  evolution  of  the 
elements.11  At  the  conclusion  of  this  series, 
which  will  extend  through  several  years, 
it  is  hoped  that  the  lectures  may  be  brought 
together,  in  a  homogeneous  and  perhaps 
somewhat  simplified  form,  into  a  small 
volume  suitable  for  use  in  schools. 

The  course  above  outlined  will  serve  to 
test  the  question  whether  the  Academy  may 
advantageously  -enter  more  extensively  into 
the  lecture  field.  So  far  as  the  members  of 
the  Academy  are  concerned,  it  seems  prob- 
able that  lectures  by  able  American  and 
European  investigators  would  add  to  the 
interest  of  the  meetings.  But  the  value  of 

n  [The  second  course  was  given  at  the  autumn 
meeting  by  Dr.  William  Wallace  Campbell  on 
"  Stellar  Evolution  and  the  Formation  of  the 
Earth. "] 

125 


the  lectures  to  the  general  public  can  only 
be  determined  by  experiment.  If  a  suitable 
building  can  be  obtained,  and  the  success 
of  these  lectures  is  sufficient  to  warrant  it, 
the  foremost  investigators,  American  and 
foreign,  might  be  invited  from  time  to  time 
throughout  the  year  to  describe  and  illus- 
trate their  advances  in  the  lecture-hall  of 
the  Academy.  This  plan  is  already  followed 
by  various  American  institutions,  but  the 
Academy,  because  of  its  national  character, 
would  be  better  able  to  attract  the  best  men 
and  to  give  their  lectures  more  than  local 
significance.  Ample  facilities  for  experi- 
mental illustration  would  also  go  far  to- 
ward enhancing  the  value  of  the  lectures. 
In  short,  the  example  of  the  Royal  Insti- 
tution should  be  followed  as  closely  as 
possible.12 

INDUSTRIAL  RESEARCH 

The  value  of  science  to  the  American 
manufacturer,  though  no  new  theme,  is 
capable  of  wide  development  at  the  hands 
of  the  National  Academy.  In  a  presidential 

12  [It  has  been  suggested  by  several  members 
that  these  lectures  might  be  repeated  in  two  or 
three  large  cities,  in  cooperation  with  local  scien- 
tific institutions.] 

126 


address  delivered  before  the  Eoyal  Society 
in  1902,  Sir  William  Huggins  dwelt  on  the 
"Supreme  Importance  of  Science  to  the 
Industries  of  the  Country,  which  can  be 
secured  only  through  making  Science  an 
Essential  Part  of  all  Education."  He  saw 
the  fruits  of  English  discoveries  passing 
into  the  hands  of  Germany,  whose  univer- 
sities have  so  long  fostered  and  spread 
abroad  the  spirit  of  research,  and  won- 
dered at  the  apathy  of  the  average  British 
manufacturer  toward  scientific  methods. 
Huggins,  speaking  in  plain  language, 
pointed  to  the  chief  source  of  weakness — 
"the  too  close  adherence  of  our  older  uni- 
versities, and  through  them  of  our  public 
schools,  and  all  other  schools  in  the  country 
downward,  to  the  traditional  methods  of 
teaching  of  medieval  times."13 

In  this  country,  where  the  classics  do 
not  dominate  the  university  system,  the 
task  of  arousing  an  adequate  appreciation 
of  the  enormous  benefits  which  sci- 
ence can  render  is  a  far  easier  one.  We 
must  have,  first  of  all,  a  widespread  inter- 
est in  science  and  some  comprehension  of 
its  problems  and  methods.  A  general 

is  " The  Royal  Society/'  p.  29. 
127 


course  on  evolution,  given  to  all  college 
students,  should  be  of  great  service  as  an 
entering  wedge.  More  students  might  thus 
be  led  to  take  science  courses,  while  those 
who  specialize  in  the  humanities  could  gain 
a  better  conception  of  what  science  means. 
The  rapid  development  of  research  in  our 
universities  and  technical  schools  promises 
to  influence  the  faculties  of  our  colleges, 
where  a  man's  success  as  a  teacher  will  be 
materially  enhanced  if  he  is  also  a  producer 
of  new  knowledge.  Thus  the  future  is 
promising  in  the  educational  field. 

On  the  side  of  our  manufacturers,  who 
are  eager  to  adopt  the  most  efficient  meth- 
ods, the  outlook  is  equally  favorable,  as 
President  Little  of  the  American  Chemical 
Society  showed  so  effectively  in  his  address  on 
"Industrial  Eesearch  in  America."14  Many 
great  firms  are  establishing  large  research 
laboratories,  where  problems  of  all  kinds 
are  under  investigation.  The  development 
within  the  past  few  years  of  Taylor's  effi- 
ciency system  is  another  indication  that  the 
advantages  of  scientific  methods  are  being 
grasped  and  applied  in  the  arts.  But  the 
opportunities  in  this  direction  are  almost 

14  SCIENCE,  38,  pp.  643-656,  1913. 
128 


endless,  and  the  National  Academy  would 
do  well  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  con- 
vincing not  only  the  large  manufacturers, 
but  the  small  manufacturers  as  well,  of  the 
industrial  importance  of  scientific  research. 
Lectures  on  recent  advances  in  engineer- 
ing, by  European  and  American  leaders, 
should  have  a  powerful  influence  if  care- 
fully planned  and  effectively  illustrated. 
Parsons  on  the  steam  turbine,15  Marconi  on 
wireless  telegraphy,15  Goethals  on  the  Pan- 
ama Canal,  would  attract  large  audiences 
and  appeal  in  published  form  to  a  wide 
public. 

But  while  the  advantages  resulting  from 
ingenuity  and  invention  and  the  best  prac- 
tise of  engineering  should  certainly  be 
brought  out  in  the  course  of  lectures  I  now 
have  in  mind,  the  improvement  of  manu- 
factured products  by  research  methods,  and 
the  potential  industrial  value  of  pure  sci- 
ence are  the  points  which  should  be  empha- 
sized. We  have  a  long  way  to  go  before 
any  single  manufacturing  firm  employs 
seven  hundred  qualified  chemists,  as  the 
combined  chemical  factories  of  Elberfeld, 
Ludwigshafen  and  Treptow  do.  The  su- 

is  Lectures  before  the  Royal  Institution,  1911. 
129 


premacy  in  this  field  of  Germany,  which 
produced  chemicals  valued  at  $3,750,000,000 
in  1907,  is  directly  due  to  the  carefully 
directed  research  of  an  army  of  chemists, 
who  learned  the  methods  of  investigation 
in  the  universities  and  technical  schools.16 
The  Berlin  Academy  of  Sciences  has  also 
contributed  in  an  important  way  to  this  re- 
sult, through  van't  HofFs  investigations  of 
the  Stassfurth  salt  deposits.  The  recent 
rapid  development  of  our  own  chemical 
industries  leads  us  to  hope  that  similar 
advances  may  soon  be  achieved  in  the 
United  States.  In  electrical  engineering, 
at  least,  we  are  already  making  comparable 
progress. 

But  the  average  man  of  business  is  much 
better  able  to  appreciate  the  value  of  re- 
search directly  applied  to  the  improvement 
of  manufactures  than  to  comprehend  the 
more  fundamental  importance  of  pure  sci- 
ence. We  must  show  how  the  investiga- 
tions of  Faraday,  pursued  for  the  pure  love 
of  truth  and  apparently  of  no  commercial 

16  In  1910  the  Nobel  prize  for  chemistry  went 
to  Germany  for  the  sixth  time,  thus  giving  to  a 
single   country  sixty  per   cent,  of  all  the  Nobel 
prizes  for  chemistry  awarded  up  to  that  date. 
130 


value,  nevertheless  laid  the  foundations  of 
electrical  engineering.  If  we  can  dissemi- 
nate such  knowledge,  which  is  capable  of 
the  easiest  demonstration  and  the  most 
striking  illustration,  we  can  multiply  the 
friends  of  pure  science  and  secure  new  and 
larger  endowments  for  physics,  chemistry 
and  other  fundamental  subjects. 

[While  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  im- 
portance of  emphasizing  the  value  of  in- 
dustrial research,  the  necessity  of  vigilance 
in  the  interests  of  pure  science  is  shown  by 
the  opposite  tendency  of  several  recent 
writers,  who  measure  science  solely  in 
terms  of  its  applicability  in  the  arts. 

The  stimulus  of  commercial  rivalry  is 
doubtless  a  factor  in  the  rapid  progress  of 
our  great  industrial  laboratories,  but  I 
doubt  if  their  directors  would  maintain 
that  all  chemical  research  should  be  of  the 
industrial  kind.  Immediate  commercial 
value  as  a  criterion  of  success  will  not 
often  point  the  way  to  the  discovery  of 
fundamental  laws,  though  these  are  by  far 
the  richest  source  of  ultimate  achievement, 
practical  as  well  as  theoretical.  Modern 
electrical  engineers  do  not  forget  the  inves- 
tigations of  Faraday  and  Hertz  in  pure  sci- 
131 


ence,  nor  do  leading  industrial  chemists 
overlook  the  researches  of  Gibbs,  van't  Hoff, 
and  others,  which  brought  them  no  practical 
returns,  but  rendered  many  modern  indus- 
tries possible.  Exclusive  attention  to  in- 
dustrial research  means  nothing  more  or 
less  than  the  growth  of  the  superstructure 
at  the  expense  of  the  foundations.  In- 
dustrial laboratories  are  able  to  offer  large 
salaries  and  other  tempting  promises  of 
material  advantages,  and  thus  to  draw  the 
most  promising  men  from  the  universities. 
But  while  these  laboratories  should  be 
strongly  encouraged,  and  multiplied  to  the 
point  where  every  small  manufacturer  will 
realize  the  value  of  research  methods,  this 
should  not  be  done  at  the  serious  expense  of 
pure  science.  Germany's  success  on  the 
industrial  side  is  primarily  due  to  her  still 
greater  achievements  in  the  university 
laboratories.  The  National  Academy,  by 
helping  to  maintain  the  two  phases  of 
American  research  in  stable  equilibrium, 
can  perform  a  service  which  the  truest  ad- 
vocates of  applied  science  will  recognize  as 
essential  to  sound  progress.] 


132 


USES  OF  AN  ACADEMY  BUILDING 

In  addition  to  experimental  and  illus- 
trated lectures,  the  Academy  might  advan- 
tageously maintain  exhibits  freely  open  to 
the  public,  showing  the  current  researches 
of  its  members,  the  most  recent  European 
advances  in  science,  and  new  applications 
of  scientific  methods  in  the  industries.  It 
goes  without  saying  that  ample  space  and 
the  best  of  facilities  would  be  required  for 
this  purpose.  If  carefully  worked  out,  this 
plan  should  provide  an  additional  means 
of  keeping  the  public  informed  of  the 
progress  of  research  and  its  bearing  on  the 
industries  of  the  country.  While  emphasis 
should  always  be  laid  in  such  exhibits  on 
pure  science,  which  it  is  the  Academy's 
prime  object  to  advance,  some  of  the  most 
striking  illustrations  of  the  applications  of 
science  should  also  be  introduced. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Academy  can  not 
undertake  such  activities  unless  it  can  ob- 
tain a  large  building  of  its  own.  The  ad- 
vantages of  having  such  a  building  for 
other  purposes  have  already  been  touched 
upon.  The  attractiveness  of  the  annual 
meetings  would  be  greatly  enhanced  if 
133 


they  were  held  in  such  surroundings  as 
an  Academy  building  could  supply. 
There  is  a  very  real  difference  between  the 
atmosphere  of  bare  halls,  casually  occupied, 
and  attractively  furnished  rooms,  perma- 
nently belonging  to  the  Academy,  and 
charged  with  the  stimulating  traditions  ac- 
cumulated during  the  process  of-  time. 
The  walls  should  be  hung  with  portraits 
of  past  presidents  and  other  eminent  men 
of  science,  which  could  easily  be  obtained 
if  there  were  a  place  for  them.  More- 
over, the  example  of  the  Eoyal  Society  in 
preserving  Newton's  telescope  and  of  the 
Royal  Institution  in  exhibiting  the  original 
instruments  of  Davy,  Faraday  and  other 
great  investigators,  should  be  followed  as 
soon  as  possible  by  the  National  Academy. 
Doubtless  it  is  still  feasible  to  secure  in- 
struments used  by  Joseph  Henry,  the  two 
Agassizs,  and  others  who  have  played  a 
similar  part  in  the  history  of  the  Academy. 
A  permanent  committee,  charged  with  the 
collection  of  portraits,  manuscripts,  and 
instruments,  and  exercising  care  and  dis- 
crimination in  its  selections,  would  gradu- 
ally bring  together  many  objects  which 

134 


would  become  more  and  more  valuable  with 
the  passage  of  time.18 

HISTORICAL   EXHIBITS 

[Few  writers  on  civilization  in  America 
appreciate  how  largely  the  United  States 
has  contributed  to  the  development  of  cer- 
tain fields  of  research.  The  mathematical 
memoirs  of  Gibbs  were  of  fundamental 
importance,  while  in  such  fields  as  celestial 
mechanics,  practical  astronomy,  astrophys- 
ics, experimental  physics,  geology  and  pale- 
ontology, and  in  many  of  the  newer  phases 
of  biology  and  experimental  medicine,  Na- 
tional Academy  members  have  led  the  way 
in  a  long  series  of  advances.  An  exhibit  of 
original  instruments,  manuscripts,  and 
photographs,  arranged  so  as  to  show  the 
successive  contributions  of  American  in- 
vestigators in  various  departments  of  re- 
search, would  prove  an  inspiration  to  many 
a  young  and  enthusiastic  aspirant  to  the 
pleasures  of  original  discovery.  I  shall 

is  [A  committee  of  this  kind,  which  was  ap- 
pointed in  November,  1913,  has  already  received 
from  Mrs.  Henry  Draper  valuable  instruments  and 
original  negatives  illustrating  the  pioneer  re- 
searches in  astrophysics  of  the  late  Henry  Draper.] 
135 


never  forget  my  own  delight  in  first  seeing 
some  of  Henry  Draper's  original  negatives 
of  stellar  spectra.  (Many  of  these  are  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  Academy,  ready 
for  use  in  an  exhibit  of  continuous  progress 
in  astronomical  spectroscopy  covering  the 
whole  history  of  the  Academy:  Ruther- 
furd's  first  successful  diffraction  gratings 
and  large-scale  photographs  of  the  solar 
spectrum;  Draper 's  spectra  of  stars  and 
planets,  the  first  to  show  the  lines;  Young's 
pioneer  observations  of  the  spectra  of  sun- 
spots  and  the  chromosphere;  Langley's 
bolometric  investigations  in  the  invisible 
region  of  the  infra-red,  and  his  measures  of 
the  solar  constant  of  radiation;  Pickering's 
extensive  discoveries  and  classification  of 
stellar  spectra  photographed  with  the  objec- 
tive prism;  Rowland's  invention  of  the  con- 
cave grating,  and  his  fundamental  studies 
of  solar  and  laboratory  spectra;  Michel- 
son's  ingenious  and  varied  contributions  to 
the  instruments  of  spectroscopy,  compris- 
ing the  interferometer,  echelon  and  large 
grating,  and  his  researches  with  them; 
Keeler's  studies  of  celestial  spectra,  in- 
augurating the  era  of  accurate  radial 
velocity  measurements;  Campbell's  per- 

136 


fection  of  the  stellar  spectrograph  and  the 
far-reaching  results  of  his  years  of  observa- 
tion. Each  of  these  American  investiga- 
tors marked  a  distinct  epoch  in  astrophys- 
ical  research,  and  their  labors  form  a  con- 
tinuous chain  covering  the  entire  life  of 
their  subject.  It  is  still  possible  to  obtain 
many  of  their  original  instruments  and 
earliest  photographs,  and  to  exhibit  them  in 
an  attractive  manner.  Who  would  not  like 
to  see  an  actual  spectrum  formed  by  Bow- 
land's  earliest  grating?  A  touch  of  a 
button  operating  an  arc  light  mounted  be- 
fore the  spectroscope  slit,  is  all  that  would 
be  necessary.  And  if  this  can  be  done  in 
one  field  of  research,  there  is  no  reason  why 
similar  stimulus  can  not  be  given  in  others, 
though  of  course  in  varying  degree.  If 
many  subjects  can  show  any  such  series  of 
advances  as  we  have  seen  in  astronomical 
spectroscopy,  the  pessimism  shown  by  some 
writers  regarding  American  research  must 
surely  give  way  to  optimism.  And  no 
method  of  bringing  the  true  state  of  affairs 
to  easy  comprehension,  both  to  men  of 
science  and  to  the  public,  could  equal  that 
of  the  proposed  exhibit.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  ingenious  and  attractive 

137 


devices  of  modern  museums  should  be  em- 
ployed, instead  of  the  dry  and  forbidding 
exhibition  methods  of  former  times.] 

The  committee  on  historical  apparatus 
might  also  have  charge  of  instruments  be- 
longing to  the  various  trust  funds  and  no 
longer  in  use  by  the  persons  to  whom  the 
original  grants  for  their  purchase  were 
made.  In  the  course  of  time  such  a  col- 
lection would  naturally  grow  to  consider- 
able proportions,  and  the  Academy  would 
be  enabled  to  assist  its  members  by  the  loan 
of  these  instruments,  as  the  Royal  Society 
has  done  so  effectively.  The  objection 
which  is  sometimes  made  to  the  purchase 
of  standard  instruments  by  the  recipients 
of  grants  would  thus  be  removed,  as  such 
instruments  might  prove  of  great  service  in 
a  collection  for  general  use. 

TENTATIVE  DESIGN  OF  AN  ACADEMY  BUILDING 

[The  design  of  an  Academy  building 
here  reproduced19  is  intended  merely  as  a 

19  [From  preliminary  sketches  by  the  firm  of 
Shepley,  Eutan  and  Coolidge.  Some  of  the  desig- 
nations of  rooms  here  employed  should  be  modi- 
fied. The  name  "conversazione  room"  for  the 
large  public  hall  comes  from  the  annual  conver- 
saziones of  the  Eoyal  Society,  where  many  instru- 
138 


basis  for  discussion.  The  large  public  hall 
into  which  the  main  entrance  leads  is  for 
the  proposed  exhibit  of  current  research, 
illustrating  the  latest  advances  in  pure  and 
applied  science,  both  American  and  for- 
eign. The  public  would  undoubtedly  ap- 
preciate an  opportunity  to  see  under 
microscopes  the  most  recently  discovered 
bacilli,  and  to  examine  specimens  illustrat- 
ing the  experimental  variation  of  plants  or 
animals,  photographs  showing  new  as- 
tronomical discoveries,  experimental  dem- 
onstrations of  physical  phenomena  like  the 
recently  found  Stark  effect  (the  influence  of 
an  electric  field  on  radiation),  the  structure 
of  crystals,  X-ray  spectra  and  their  bearing 

ments  and  experimental  exhibits  are  shown.  The 
photographic  room  (not  needed  on  this  floor) 
should  be  used  for  council  meetings,  setting  free 
the  room  allotted  in  the  plan  to  the  council  for 
a  memters'  ante-room,  adjoining  the  meeting 
room.  The  meeting,  lecture  and  exhibition  halls 
are  shown  in  Fig.  2  as  extending  up  through  the 
second  floor,  but  the  laboratories  and  other  parts 
of  the  building  would  be  divided  into  several 
stories  of  ordinary  height.  The  laboratories  may 
of  course  be  devoted  to  any  desired  field  of  re- 
search, and  the  designations  are  merely  intended 
to  suggest  that  one  of  these  be  in  the  physical  and 
the  other  in  the  biological  sciences.] 
139 


140 


on  the  constitution  of  the  atom,  etc.  As 
the  home  of  such  an  exhibit,  and  the  place 
of  publication  of  the  Proceedings,  announc- 
ing the  current  advances  of  American  re- 
search, the  Academy  would  soon  be  recog- 
nized in  its  true  character  as  the  natural 
center  and  promoter  of  the  scientific  work 
of  the  United  States. 

In  the  adjoining  room  to  the  right  the 
exhibit  of  historical  research  would  con- 
nect the  present  with  the  past,  and  give  a 
clear  picture  of  American  progress  in  the 
field  of  science.  The  possibilities  of  this 
exhibit  have  already  been  mentioned, 
but  it  may  be  remarked  here  that  one 
of  its  prime  purposes  should  be  to  stimulate 
further  investigation  and  to  aid  in  the 
Academy's  work  of  correlating  science  by 
indicating  converging  lines  of  research. 
Both  of  these  objects  are  of  course  perfectly 
compatible  with  the  initial  idea  of  com- 
memorating the  labors  of  Academy 
members. 

The  lecture  hall  at  the  rear  of  the  build- 
ing completes  the  group  of  rooms  open  to 
the  public.  This  should  embody  some  of 
the  features  which  make  the  lecture  hall  of 
the  Royal  Institution  so  attractive.  The 

142 


provision  of  ample  facilities  for  experi- 
mental demonstrations  (including  a  well- 
equipped  preparation  room)  which  no 
large  lecture  hall  in  Washington  contains 
at  present,  would  add  greatly  to  the  means 
of  interesting  both  men  of  science  and  the 
public. 

To  the  left  of  the  central  hall  is  the 
Academy  meeting  room,  which  might  ad- 
vantageously combine  various  features 
found  in  European  academies.  One  of  the 
most  attractive  meeting  rooms  abroad  is  that 
of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences.  The 
provision  of  a  comfortable  ante-room,20 
equipped  like  a  club  and  providing  abun- 
dant opportunity  for  conversation  among 
members,  would  be  a  valuable  addition. 
Instead  of  admitting  visitors  to  the  meet- 
ing-room they  could  be  better  accommo- 
dated in  a  second  floor  gallery,  above  the 
ante-room,  similar  to  the  visitors'  gallery 
of  the  Amsterdam  Academy.  Finally,  a 
modified  seating  arrangement  (probably 
retaining  the  tables  for  officers  and  mem- 
bers) would  permit  the  inclusion  of  a 
screen  and  experiment  table  at  one  end  of 
the  room. 

20  In  the  space  here  marked  "Council  Koom." 
143 


iThe  main  floor  would  also  contain  a 
council  room,21  and  various  offices,  cloak 
rooms,  serving  rooms,  apparatus  rooms, 
etc.,  needed  for  use  in  connection  with 
meetings,  lectures,  exhibits,  public  recep- 
tions and  other  functions.  The  offices  of 
the  secretaries,  editorial  rooms,  library  and 
reading  rooms,  private  research  rooms  and 
other  rooms  not  for  public  purposes  would 
be  on  the  floors  above.  The  example  of  the 
Berlin  Academy,22  which  provides  numer- 
ous offices  (45  in  all)  in  its  new  building 
for  the  compilation  of  data  required  for 
a  general  catalogue  of  stars,  bodies  of 
Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions,  a  great 
Egyptian  dictionary,  and  other  similar 
undertakings,  might  well  be  imitated  here. 
For  instance,  it  would  have  been  of  great 
advantage  to  the  Academy  if  it  had  been 
able  to  furnish  Professor  Newcomb  with 
offices  for  the  computers  employed  in  his 
extensive  astronomical  researches,  during 
the  active  period  which  followed  his  retire- 
ment from  the  Nautical  Almanac  office. 

21  In    the    space    here    marked    * '  Photograph 
Koom." 

22  See   "The   Work   of  European   Academies," 
SCIENCE,  November  14,  1913,  p.  692. 

144 


Small  study  rooms  for  members  staying  in 
Washington,  engaged  in  writing  or  research 
involving  the  use  of  the  Academy  library, 
would  also  be  useful. 

The  two  wings  shown  to  the  right  and 
left  of  the  main  building  are  intended  for 
research  laboratories.  "While  the  great 
majority  of  members  seem  to  favor  the  in- 
clusion of  such  laboratories  in  the  Acad- 
emy 's  scheme  of  development,  there  are  a 
few  who  do  not,  and  it  is  desirable  to  point 
out  why  they  appear  desirable.  The 
Academy  stands,  first  and  foremost,  for 
research,  which  it  seeks  to  advance  in  every 
effective  way.  It  may  thus  follow  the 
example  of  various  academies  abroad,  such 
as  St.  Petersburg,  which  carries  on  impor- 
tant researches  in  physics  and  other  sub- 
jects; Stockholm,  which  has  long  provided 
in  its  own  laboratories  for  the  spectroscopic 
investigations  of  Hasselberg;  and  Berlin, 
which  has  produced  the  extensive  investi- 
gations already  enumerated.  Nothing 
could  do  more  to  advance  the  Academy's 
influence  on  the  progress  of  science  than 
the  production  of  important  results  from 
its  own  laboratories.  But  there  is  another 
145 


and  even  stronger  argument  in  favor  of 
their  establishment. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  one  who  has 
studied  the  problems  of  the  Academy,  that 
the  success  of  its  future  work  must  depend 
upon  the  discovery  of  men  who  are  willing 
and  able  to  devote  the  necessary  time  and 
energy  to  it.  Two  Academy  members,  in 
commenting  on  suggestions  for  a  building, 
remark  that  not  laboratories,  but  men  are 
needed.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
history  of  the  Academy  are  aware  of  the 
great  amount  of  unselfish  effort  which  it 
owes  to  its  officers  and  members.  But  the 
fact  remains  that  a  man's  first  allegiance  is 
to  the  university  or  other  institution  which 
counts  him  on  its  staff.  As  long  as  he  re- 
tains such  connections  he  can  devote  only 
his  spare  time  to  the  work  of  the  Academy, 
which,  nevertheless,  demands  his  best 
efforts. 

The  provision  of  research  laboratories, 
with  funds  for  their  maintenance,  would 
enable  the  Academy  to  command  the  entire 
time  and  effort  of  some  of  the  ablest  men 
in  the  country.  The  growing  work,  which 
already  throws  heavier  burdens  than  the 
members  realize  on  the  willing  shoulders  of 
146 


the  Home  Secretary,  may  later  demand 
(as  in  the  Eoyal  Society)  the  services  of 
two  men,  one  representing  the  mathematical 
and  physical,  the  other  the  biological  sci- 
ences. The  only  way  to  secure  the  un- 
divided service  of  such  men  is  to  offer  them 
adequate  salaries,  a  suitable  staff  of  assis- 
tants, and  ample  laboratory  facilities. 
Thus,  while  carrying  on  their  researches  in 
the  name  of  the  Academy,  they  would  be 
able  to  direct  the  extensive  work  which  the 
exhibits  of  current  and  historical  research, 
the  publication  of  the  Proceedings  and 
other  contemplated  activities  must  involve. 
Their  position  would  be  much  like  that  of 
Faraday  at  the  Eoyal  Institution,  with 
added  duties  defined  by  the  broader  range 
of  the  Academy's  field. 

An  important  object  of  the  proposed  re- 
search laboratories,  therefore,  is  to  attract 
and  hold  the  men  whose  unrestricted  time 
and  energy  the  Academy  urgently  needs. 
Volunteer  service  will  continue  and  multi- 
ply, but  it  can  never  hope  to  accomplish  all 
that  the  future  will  require. 

No  details  of  laboratory  design  need  be 
discussed  here.  The  use  of  the  unit  sys- 
tem of  rooms,  exemplified  in  the  Harvard 
147 


Medical  School,  would  eliminate  many  diffi- 
culties, and  facilitate  alterations  to  meet 
changing  needs.  A  common  plant  of  re- 
frigerating machinery,  compression  pumps, 
constant-temperature  rooms  and  other  re- 
quirements of  both  laboratories,  could  be 
placed  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  main 
building,  which  would  also  contain  rooms 
for  storing  reserve  Academy  publications 
and  for  other  miscellaneous  purposes. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  some  of 
the  possible  uses  of  an  Academy  building, 
and  the  corresponding  necessities  of  the 
design.  The  present  plan,  which  is  merely 
tentative,  may  serve  to  bring  out  criticisms 
and  suggestions  from  members,  who  will 
undoubtedly  think  of  many  advantageous 
modifications.  A  classic  treatment  is  indi- 
cated, but  this  is  mainly  because  of  the 
prevailing  conditions  in  Washington,  and 
the  probability  that  a  government  site 
could  not  be  obtained  for  a  building  of 
collegiate  Gothic  design,  for  example. 

It  would  be  advantageous  for  the  Acad- 
emy to  appoint  a  strong  committee,  repre- 
senting all  branches  of  science,  to  design 
a  suitable  building.  »  Much  time  and 
thought  are  necessary  to  secure  a  satis- 

148 


factory  plan,  which  will  provide  for  present 
needs,  and  be  readily  adaptable  to  future 
developments.  As  for  funds,  some  time 
may  be  required  to  find  the  sum  needed, 
but  the  opportunity  is  such  an  exceptional 
one  that  a  willing  donor  is  sure  to  appear 
in  the  future.  The  only  way  to  obtain 
gifts  for  building  or  endowment  is  to  have 
a  scheme  so  promising,  and  plans  so  at- 
tractive as  to  convince  a  prospective  in- 
vestor that  his  funds  will  be  effectively 
used.  Notable  cases  might  be  cited  where 
large  gifts  followed  the  presentation  of  ef- 
fective building  designs,  which  appealed 
not  only  to  the  eye,  but  equally  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  donor.] 

TRUST  FUNDS 

The  trust  funds  of  the  Academy,  as 
shown  in  a  previous  article,  have  a  total  of 
over  eighty  thousand  dollars,  the  income 
of  which  is  exclusively  devoted  to  research. 
In  addition,  there  are  other  funds  totaling 
over  thirty-six  thousand  dollars,  primarily 
intended  for  the  endowment  of  medals  and 
prizes,  which  enjoy  a  considerable  surplus 
income  also  available  for  original  investiga- 
tion. By  these  means  the  Academy  has 

149 


been  able  to  assist  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant researches  of  American  science.  A 
closer  connection  between  the  various  com- 
mittees, and  the  adoption  of  a  concerted 
plan  of  action,  would  perhaps  increase  still 
further  the  usefulness  of  the  funds.  As  a 
committee  charged  with  the  study  of  the 
use  of  trust  funds  has  admirably  expressed 
it: 

The  Academy  should  take  the  initiative  in  the 
organization  and  conduct  of  research.  It  should 
not  wait  for  applications  or  for  suggestions  to 
come  in  wholly  from  the  outside.  Such  sugges- 
tions should  be  urged,  but  the  Academy  should 
not  relegate  itself  to  the  function  of  a  mere  dis- 
bursing organization;  it  should  seek  rather  to  de- 
termine what  projects  are  worthy  of  investiga- 
tion and  how  the  funds  may  be  most  judiciously 
administered. 

Such  a  policy  would  seem  to  imply  a 
careful  examination  on  the  part  of  each 
committee  of  the  existing  conditions  and 
needs  of  research  in  its  own  field,  and  an 
endeavor,  through  cooperation  with  the 
other  committees,  to  secure  a  well-balanced 
and  thoroughly  effective  use  of  all  Academy 
funds  available  for  investigation.  As 
already  suggested,  the  gradual  accumula- 
tion of  instruments,  returned  on  the  com- 
150 


pletion  of  the  work  for  which  they  were 
purchased,  should  ultimately  result  in  a 
marked  gain  in  the  efficiency  of  the  funds 
and  in  the  Academy's  ability  to  assist  in- 
vestigators. 

[As  a  body  which  is  rapidly  becoming 
truly  representative  of  the  investigators  of 
America,  the  National  Academy  is  well 
qualified  to  act  in  an  advisory  capacity  to 
other  institutions  having  funds  available 
for  use  in  research.  It  frequently  happens 
that  trustees  of  funds  thus  applicable  re- 
quire such  expert  advice  as, the  Academy 
can  give.  A  parallel  case  is  that  of  the 
Eoyal  Society,  which  selects  annually  the 
recipients  of  the  Government  Grant  Fund 
of  £4,000. 

MEDALS    AND    PRIZES 

In  bestowing  the  Academy's  gold  medals 
for  investigations  in  physics,  astronomy, 
astrophysics,  oceanography  and  the  study 
of  meteoric  bodies,  an  attempt  should  be 
made,  not  only  to  recognize  and  reward 
successful  investigators,  but  to  do  this  in 
accordance  with  the  best  interests  of  future 
research.  A  few  of  the  numerous  medals 
awarded  by  academies,  such  as  the  Copley 

151 


Medal  of  the  Royal  Society,  may  be  ad- 
vantageously reserved  as  a  fitting  recogni- 
tion of  many  years  of  eminent  service  to 
science.  But,  as  Diels23  has  justly  re- 
marked, the  majority  of  medals  and  prizes 
will  prove  of  greater  value  if  given  to  com- 
paratively young  men,  who  still  need  sup- 
port and  encouragement.  By  acquaintance 
with  the  circumstances  under  which  such 
men  are  working,  an  award  may  be  made 
at  a  moment  so  favorable  as  to  increase  its 
value  many  fold.  Thus  recognition  by  the 
Academy  may  supply  the  precise  argument 
needed  to  convince  university  authorities 
or  others  in  control  of  research  funds  of 
the  importance  of  providing  the  means 
necessary  to  continue  and  extend  the  work 
of  the  medallist.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  grants  from  trust  funds.  Cases  are 
known  in  which  a  comparatively  small 
grant  has  favorably  influenced  a  board  of 
trustees  in  deciding  to  devote  large  sums 
to  research. 

This  leads  to  a  consideration  of  the  ques- 
tion of  membership  in  the  National  Acad- 
emy. In  his  valuable  discussion  of  the 

23  "Die  Kultur  der  Gegenwart,"  Teil  L,  Ab- 
teilung  I.,  zweite  Auflage,  p.  666. 
152 


organization  of  science,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made,  Professor  Diels 
lays  great  emphasis  upon  the  importance 
of  aiding  and  encouraging  the  younger  men 
of  science  through  the  award  of  grants  for 
investigation.  That  this  feeling  is  general 
throughout  the  German  academies  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  approximately  one  half  of 
their  resources  are  used  for  this  purpose. 
Diels  also  finds  cause  for  congratulation  in 
the  fact  that  the  papers  of  these  non-acade- 
micians, published  in  the  proceedings, 
often  prove  to  be  the  most  brilliant  of  Ger- 
many's contributions  to  science,  and  at  the 
same  time  greatly  aid  in  enlivening  the 
work  of  the  Academies.24 

Nothing  could  point  more  clearly  to  the 
best  field  of  usefulness  of  our  own  Na- 
tional Academy.  As  the  future  of  re- 
search depends  directly  upon  the  younger 
men,  the  Academy  may  properly  devote  a 
large  share  of  its  efforts  to  their  support 
and  advancement.  But  moral  encourage- 
ment is  no  less  important  than  financial 
aid.  The  latter  may  well  be  given  from 
the  trust  funds  of  the  Academy,  but  the 

24  Diels,  ibid.,  p.  665. 

153 


former  should  not  be  neglected.  The 
Academy  does  grant  medals,  but  these  are 
available  in  only  a  few  fields  of  research.25 
Fortunately  it  also  possesses  a  still  more 
powerful  resource  in  its  opportunity  to  be- 
stow all  the  advantages  and  privileges  of 
actual  membership. 

MEMBERSHIP 

)The  great  European  academies  differ 
among  themselves  in  many  particulars, 
most  of  all  as  regards  membership.  At 
one  extreme  we  find  the  St.  Petersburg 
Academy,  with  a  president,  a  director  and 
fifteen  members,  who  are  paid  good  salaries 
and  provided  with  dwelling  houses  and 
laboratory  facilities.  At  the  other  ex- 
treme stands  the  Royal  Society,  with  477 
members,  who  receive  no  salaries  or  other 
tangible  benefits.  The  other  leading 
academies,  such  as  Berlin,  Paris,  Rome  and 
Vienna,  lie  between  these  limits.26 

25  An  attempt  should  be  made  to  secure  medals 
(or    preferably    money    prizes    available   for    the 
purchase    of    books    or    instruments)    for    mathe- 
matics,  engineering,   chemistry,   geology,   and   the 
various  branches  of  biology. 

26  See   "The  Work  of   European   Academies/' 
SCIENCE,  38,  686  et  seq.,  1913. 

154 


The  large  membership  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety probably  reflects,  in  some  degree,  the 
strongly  democratic  tendencies  of  England. 
But  the  working  body  of  scientific  investi- 
gators is  sufficiently  large  to  prevent  the 
distinction  of  election  to  this  venerable  so- 
ciety from  being  impaired.  In  fact,  on  ac- 
count of  the  great  pains  taken  by  the 
Council  to  inquire  into  the  qualifications  of 
the  fifteen  Fellows  elected  annually,  the 
significance  of  the  coveted  title  of  F.E.S. 
is  perhaps  even  greater  to-day  than  at  any 
earlier  period  in  the  history  of  the  Society. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  investiga- 
tors of  real  ability  are  quite  as  numerous 
in  the  United  States  as  in  England.  The 
available  statistics  indeed  indicate  that  a 
much  greater  number  of  men  are  engaged 
here  in  research.  The  conditions  are  thus 
very  different  from  those  existing  in  1863, 
when  the  National  Academy  was  founded, 
with  50  members  as  its  limiting  number. 
Since  1906,  when  the  maximum  number  of 
members  elected  annually  was  increased 
from  five  to  ten,  there  has  been  a  very  per- 
ceptible change  in  the  spirit  of  the  Acad- 
emy. By  taking  in  a  larger  proportion  of 
the  younger  men  actively  engaged  in  re- 

155 


search,  the  Academy  has  increased  its  con- 
tact with  living  issues,  and  made  itself  more 
truly  representative  of  American  science. 
For  the  present,  the  election  of  ten  new 
members  annually  may  suffice,  but  I  believe 
that  the  time  will  soon  come  when  the  limit 
should  be  raised  from  ten  to  fifteen. 

It  can  not  be  gainsaid  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  able  American  investigators,  who  in 
England  would  certainly  be  elected  to 
membership  in  the  Royal  Society,  are  still 
outside  of  our  National  Academy.  The 
reason  for  this  lies  partly  in  the  limit  im- 
posed on  membership,  and  partly  in  the 
method  of  nomination,  which  seems  to  me 
susceptible  of  improvement.  One  difficulty, 
which  will  certainly  increase  in  the  future, 
has  come  about  through  the  development  of 
new  fields  of  research.  A  man  classed  as  a 
mathematician  or  an  astronomer,  both  of 
which  subjects  are  well  represented  in  the 
Academy,  is  sure  to  receive  consideration 
when  nominations  are  being  made.  But  if 
his  subject  be  a  comparatively  new  one,  not 
represented  among  the  nominating  sections 
included  in  the  existing  classification  of  the 
Academy,  his  claims  to  recognition  will  be 
much  less  likely  to  command  due  attention. 
156 


The  constitution  provides  that  the  Council 
may  nominate  new  members,  but  this 
privilege  is  exercised  only  in  rare  cases,  and 
in  any  event  there  are  certain  disadvan- 
tages in  this  procedure,  ll  trust  that  some 
means  can  be  found  of  improving  the 
system  of  nominations  so  as  to  overcome 
this  difficulty,  which  now  deprives  the 
Academy  of  valuable  members.27 

As  for  the  qualifications  of  membership, 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  original 
plan  of  basing  selections  solely  on  the  ori- 
ginal contributions  to  science  of  the  candi- 
dates should  always  be  maintained.  While 
it  is  true  that  eminent  administrators  and 
others  who  exercise  large  influence  in  the 
intellectual  world  might  prove  to  be  of 
great  service  as  members  of  the  Academy, 
a  wide  departure  from  this  fundamental 
principle  would  soon  detract  from  the 
standing  of  the  Academy  as  the  national 
representative  of  original  research.  Thus 
while  eminent  services  to  the  public  should 
by  no  means  be  excluded  from  the  field  of 
the  Academy's  interests,  and  may  well  be 
recognized  by  the  award  of  special  medals 
founded  for  this  purpose,  actual  member- 

27  [A  committee  is  now  at  work  on  this  subject.] 
157 


ship  should  be  confined  to  original  investi- 
gators. 

SCOPE  OF  THE  ACADEMY 

Here  we  may  inquire  as  to  the  true 
scope  of  the  Academy's  work.  In  what  de- 
gree should  it  confine  its  choice  of  members 
to  the  physical  and  natural  sciences,  and 
in  what  measure  may  it  recognize  success- 
ful research  in  such  fields  as  philosophy, 
archeology,  political  economy,  and  history  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  will  depend  in 
part  upon  one's  opinion  of  the  chief  object 
of  the  Academy.  There  are  those  who  feel 
that  the  most  important  function  of  the 
National  Academy  is  to  confer  distinction 
by  election  to  membership.  If  this  were 
its  prime  object,  the  participation  of  the 
members  in  the  work  of  the  Academy  would 
be  a  minor  matter,  and  any  one  of  sufficient 
reputation  as  an  investigator  might  be 
chosen.  But  if  we  agree,  as  I  think  the 
large  majority  will,  that  the  Academy 
should  be  looked  upon  as  a  working  body, 
and  that  its  privilege  of  conferring  dis- 
tinction by  election  to  membership  is  only 
one  of  many  important  functions,  it  seems 
to  me  that  a  means  of  defining  our  choice 

158 


of   investigators   in    the   humanities   may 
easily  be  found. 

A  single  philologist,  or  a  single  political 
economist,  may  find  but  little  of  interest  to 
himself  in  the  proceedings  of  a  body  made 
up  almost  exclusively  of  representatives  of 
the  physical  and  natural  sciences.  If  so, 
he  may  not  attend  the  meetings,  and  his 
membership  would  then  serve  merely  as  a 
mark  of  distinction.  Deferring  for  a  mo- 
ment the  discussion  of  the  broad  question 
whether  the  Academy  should  ever  be  re- 
organized in  two  or  more  large  classes, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  it 
seems  to  me  that  we  should  augment  the 
value  of  election  by  furnishing  real  reason 
to  every  member  for  participation  in  the 
work  of  the  Academy.  For  example,  in  its 
committee  on  anthropology  and  psychology 
the  National  Academy  now  has  three  mem- 
bers engaged  in  the  study  of  archeological 
problems.  Although  their  work  relates 
primarily  to  American  ethnology,  it  differs 
in  no  essential  respect  from  that  of  the 
classical  archeologist  or  the  student  of 
Egyptology  or  Assyriology.  Would  it  not 
be  advisable,  therefore,  when  the  Academy 
chooses  its  next  member  from  outside  the 

159 


domain  of  the  physical  and  natural  sci- 
ences, to  elect  an  archeologist  from  one  of 
these  fields  ?  If  this  were  done  he  might  be 
expected  to  take  a  more  active  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  Academy,  which  would 
benefit  by  his  contributions  to  its  proceed- 
ings.28 

The  advantages  which  might  result  from 
a  wider  extension  of  the  scope  of  the  Na- 
tional Academy  raise  the  question  whether 
an  organization  resembling  that  of  the 
Berlin  Academy  will  ever  become  desirable. 
This  problem  was  long  and  seriously  dis- 
cussed by  the  Royal  Society,  and  the  nega- 
tive decision  of  its  deliberations  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  British  Academy.  In 
spite  of  this  decision,  some  of  its  leading 
Fellows  still  believe  that  the  Royal  Society 
should  have  made  room  for  a  larger  body 
of  philosophers,  historians  and  philologists 
than  it  now  contains.  Both  the  Royal  So- 
ciety and  the  National  Academy  have 
wisely  refused  to  limit  their  membership 

28  William  Dwight  Whitney  and  William  James 
resigned  from  the  Academy,  probably  because 
they  were  the  sole  representatives  of  their  sub- 
jects.. 

160 


to  the  physical  and  natural  sciences.  Such 
historians  as  Bryce  and  Morley  and  such 
Egyptologists  as  Petrie  are  now  counted 
among  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  "Weld  states  that  116  archeological 
papers  were  published  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  before  1848.29  But  the  large 
proportion  of  Fellows  concerned  with  the 
physical  and  natural  sciences,  and  the 
failure  of  the  Society  to  recognize  the 
philosophical-historical  group  in  its  or- 
ganization, has  prevented  the  Royal  Society 
from  taking  part  in  the  Section  of  Letters 
of  the  International  Association  of  Acade- 
mies, where  the  British  Academy  now  rep- 
resents England. 

The  National  Academy,  as  a  member  of 
the  Section  of  Science  of  the  International 
Association,  is  in  a  position  to  secure  ade- 
quate representation  in  foreign  affairs  of 
American  interests  in  the  natural  sciences. 
The  United  States  are  also  entitled  to  rep- 
resentation in  the  Section  of  Letters,  but 
the  present  organization  of  the  National 
Academy  and  the  absence  of  a  national 

29  "History  of  the  Boyal  Society,"  Vol.  2,  p. 
565. 

161 


body  similar  to  the  British  Academy,30  still 
leaves  a  vacancy  there. 

In  my  opinion  it  would  not  be  advisable, 
under  present  conditions,  to  reorganize  the 
National  Academy  on  the  model  of  the 
Berlin  Academy.  But  I  am  heartily  in 
sympathy  with  the  idea  of  widening  its 
scope  and  its  field  of  interests,  in  some  such 
way  as  that  indicated  above.  This  plan 
would  permit  the  Academy  to  honor  able 
investigators  outside  of  the  physical  and 
natural  sciences,  and  at  the  same  time 
gradually  to  build  up  small  groups  of  these 
members  who  would  aid  the  Academy  in 
the  development  of  its  work.  Ultimately 
the  Academy  might  extend  this  phase  of 
its  activities  sufficiently  to  secure  repre- 
sentation in  the  Section  of  Letters  of  the 
International  Association  of  Academies. 

LOCAL  ACADEMIES 

A  subject  to  which  I  have  devoted  spe- 
cial attention  in  the  study  of  the  problems 
of  the  National  Academy,  is  its  relation- 
ship to  the  various  local  academies  which 
are  widely  distributed  over  the  United 

so  The  National  Institute  of  Arts  and  Letters 
occupies  a  different  field. 
162 


States.  These  societies  are  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  the  further  development  of 
American  research,  and  the  cultivation  of 
an  intelligent  interest  in  the  problems  of 
science.  Some  of  them  have  grown  to  such 
large  proportions  and  established  such  ex- 
cellent organizations  that  they  need  no 
assistance  or  encouragement  from  the  Na- 
tional Academy.  But  after  these  excep- 
tional societies  have  been  excluded,  there 
remain  a  great  number  of  others,  which  the 
National  Academy  ought  to  be  in  a  position 
to  assist  in  various  ways. 

In  an  early  period  of  its  history,  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  established  close 
official  relations  with  certain  provincial 
academies  in  various  parts  of  France.  In 
fact,  the  Society  of  Mentpellier  is  described 
in  its  royal  letters  patent  as  "an  extension 
and  a  part  "  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences.31 But  a  general  plan  of  federation 
between  the  provincial  academies  and  the 
Institute  of  France,  such  as  that  described 
by  Bouillier  in  the  work  just  cited,  has 
never  been  carried  into  effect,  and  the  old 
official  relations  have  been  discontinued. 

31  Bouillier,  * '  L  'Institut  et  les  Academies  de 
Province,"  p.  70. 

163 


After  careful  consideration  of  Bouillier's 
plan,  I  doubt  whether  it  could  be  advan- 
tageously applied  in  the  United  States 
under  existing  conditions. 

This  conclusion,  however,  does  not  mean 
that  the  National  Academy  can  not  be  of 
service  to  local  organizations.  I  believe, 
on  the  contrary,  that  it  might  find  many 
ways  and  means  of  aiding  them.  The 
prime  object  is  to  secure  a  high  standard  of 
accomplishment  among  the  minor  academies 
remote  from  the  chief  centers  of  research, 
and  to  give  the  encouragement  which  the 
production  of  good  work  under  unfavor- 
able conditions  so  richly  deserves.  It 
should  be  possible  to  discover  methods  of 
realizing  these  ends,  and  thus  to  contribute 
to  the  strength  and  standing  of  the  local 
academies  and  the  progress  of  American 
research. 

[It  will  be  noticed  that  comparatively 
little  attention  has  been  given  in  this  paper 
to  the  relationship  of  the  Academy  to  the 
national  government.  This  is  due  to  no 
underestimate  of  the  importance  of  the 
connection,  but  rather  to  the  strong  desire 
that  this  chief  implication  of  the  Acad- 
emy's charter  should  ultimately  be  realized 

164 


in  the  fullest  sense.  Valuable  suggestions 
for  cooperation  with  various  departments 
of  the  government  have  been  made  by 
Academy  members,  and  every  effort  should 
be  exerted  to  carry  them  into  effect.  But 
recent  experience  indicates  that  the  most 
promising  way  to  accomplish  this  lies  in 
first  developing  the  standing  and  prestige 
of  the  Academy.  When  it  becomes  more 
widely  and  favorably  known  for  its  con- 
tributions to  scientific  progress,  and  is 
universally  recognized  as  the  national  and 
authoritative  representative  of  American 
science,  the  Academy's  influence  with  Con- 
gress and  with  the  various  officers  of  the 
government  will  be  far  more  potent  than  at 
present.  I  therefore  believe  that  no  effort 
should  be  made  to  press  a  demand  for 
greater  governmental  recognition  until  the 
publication  of  the  Proceedings  and  other 
new  activities  have  had  time  to  produce 
their  anticipated  effect.] 

In  summarizing  the  suggestions  offered 
in  this  paper,  we  see  that  many  of  the  new 
activities  proposed  for  the  National  Acad- 
emy can  not  be  undertaken  without  a  suit- 
able building.  If  this  can  be  obtained, 

165 


and  adequately  endowed,  the  Academy  will 
be  able  greatly  to  extend  its  influence  and 
usefulness  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
through  original  researches,  increased  serv- 
ice to  members,  public  lectures  and  ex- 
hibits, and  greater  cooperation  in  inter- 
national projects.  Under  present  condi- 
tions, the  International  Association  of 
Academies  could  hardly  be  invited  to  meet 
in  Washington.  But  if  established  in  a 
home  of  its  own,  the  Academy  might  ulti- 
mately succeed  the  Royal  Society  and  the 
Academies  of  Paris,  Rome,  St.  Petersburg 
and  Berlin  as  the  leading  Academy  of  the 
Association  for  a  period  of  three  years.  In 
this  position  it  could  contribute  in  a  more 
effective  way  to  the  furtherance  of  inter- 
national science,  and  to  the  study  of  the 
great  problems  of  cooperative  research, 
which  offer  large  possibilities  of  extension 
and  development.32 

The  one  way  to  secure  a  building  and  en- 
dowment is  to  prove  by  continual  increase 
of  efficiency  that  the  Academy  can  use  them 
to  advantage.  The  establishment  of  Pro- 
ceedings, the  institution  of  lecture  courses, 

32 1  hope  to   discuss  the  international  relations 
of  the  Academy  in  a  future  article. 
166 


the  encouragement  of  broader  methods  of 
science  teaching,  and  closer  identification 
with  the  general  interests  of  science  as 
represented  in  all  movements  for  the  pro- 
motion of  research  and  the  diffusion  of  sci- 
entific knowledge,  are  opportunities  open 
to  immediate  realization,  and  deserving  of 
the  most  careful  consideration  by  the 
Academy. 
MOUNT  WILSON 

SOLAR  OBSERVATORY 


167 


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